


The Harsh Reality

by forgetthosewords



Category: Zootopia (2016)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Crime Fighting, Drama, F/M, Gangs, Gen, Investigations, Mystery, Organized Crime, Police, Post-Movie(s), Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-07
Updated: 2016-10-08
Packaged: 2018-08-07 06:13:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 18
Words: 52,196
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7703614
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/forgetthosewords/pseuds/forgetthosewords
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Working in the police force isn't easy, all officers know this. However, when a case suddenly takes a personal turn, will Judy and Nick be able to cope with the pressure and the expectations set upon them?<br/></p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Sudden Intrusion

**Hey everyone! So just like with the last story, I posted this one from FF.net for you guys to enjoy as well! It's still a work in progress so I'll be updating both stories in parallel as I write new chapters.**

**To put it into context this story takes place seven months after my first story (The First Day), or seven months after Nick's first day on the force.**

**There's not really much I can add at this point, so I'll avoid rambling on. Hope you guys enjoy this story, and feel free to follow and review if you enjoyed it, or have any suggestions for future chapters.**

**Let's go!**

**(Disclaimer: All the characters and referenced scenes from the movie belong to Disney)**

* * *

"Earth to Nick, you hear me?", a familiar voice brought the fox out of his thoughts.

The heavy rain poured outside, washing over their police cruiser as they drove through the streets. He didn't like the rain, it reminded him too much of the times when he still lived under the bridge, when any intense rainfall like the one today almost guaranteed a nasty cold. Nowadays, with an apartment of his own, those worries were a thing of the past, but the memories remained.

Bringing himself back to the present, he recalled what was going on. It was an uneventful day, the heavy rain keeping everyone indoors, with no issues reported anywhere in the city. Sure, it meant their patrols were boring, but it also indicated their precinct was doing a good job. It was, after all, the best precinct in Zootopia, and they were certainly living up to it. Almost seven months have passed since Nick graduated from the academy, and most of their days were filled with similar patrols, with an occasional open-and-close case. Nick certainly didn't mind it though, especially not after the fateful events of his first day which nearly took the lives of Judy and himself.

"Sorry Carrots, you asked something?", he inquired, bringing his attention to his partner, who was currently driving the vehicle.

"I asked: truth or dare?", she responded, giving him a quick glance and a smile before her eyes returned to look down the slippery road ahead.

"Ah yes, the innocent game that almost always pushes the boundaries of the inappropriate", he smirked, the sarcasm evident in his voice. "Okay, fine, truth. Not like I could do much on a dare here."

"Oh, you'd be surprised - I can be pretty creative", Judy winked at him playfully. "But fine, truth it is."

She paused, trying to come up with a question of her own. The car was silent for about a minute, until she suddenly had an idea.

"Soooo, how many girlfriends did you have?", she blurted out, before quickly turning away, realizing she sounded a little too eager there. Nick, however, was quick to notice her tone and subsequent embarrassment.

"Well well, Carrots, if I didn't know you better, I could've sworn you were flirting with me", he stated, his smirk not disappearing from his face.

"Har har, you keep thinking that slick, if it makes you feel any better. Also, I told you quite a bit about my private life, so it's only fair you tell me a little about yours too"

It was true, she did tell him a fair amount about her private life, mainly that she never really dated due to her commitment to her ultimate goal. Yet, apart from Nick telling her he was single, which came as a surprising sense of relief to her, she didn't know much else. Being curious was okay, right? It was only an innocent question... okay, maybe it was a little more than curiosity, but still... She did indeed wonder how her partner's private life was structured. She didn't quite know why she was this curious, but she paid it no attention, especially when Nick's voice suddenly broke through her train of thoughts.

"Earth to Carrots", he playfully mocked her, repeating her own statement. "I answered your question. Is it my turn now?"

"Wait, that's not fair! I didn't even get to hear it!", she complained.

"Well, that's your loss. I did what you asked..."

"...but this time, I can keep you on the hook forever until you answer", Judy smiled.

"Sly bunny", Nick muttered. "Okay, fine, I'll tell you again. The answer is 2. Again though, I expected a more creative question from you."

The rabbit looked on victoriously, knowing she just won a battle.

Before either of them could make another comment, their radio crackled to life.

"Hopps, Wilde, come in, over", Chief Bogo's gruff voice could be heard.

Normally, Clawhauser would be the one handling communications during their patrols, so hearing the Chief on the radio was rather unusual, but not necessarily alarming at first.

"Roger Chief, what could this fox and bunny do for you on this terrible, rainy day?", Nick replied, picking up the radio.

"Cut it, Wilde. We need both of you at City Hall, now."

They couldn't quite tell where this was going. Why City Hall? The new mayor certainly took a liking to them, but to the point of wanting to see them on patrol? Or was this something more serious?

"Roger, on our way."

 _Time to find out,_ Nick thought as Judy turned the vehicle on to a street that would lead them directly to their destination.

Within minutes they had arrived. From the sight in front of them, it was clear this wasn't just an average meeting with the mayor. Visibility was poor in this rain, but as they approached City Hall they could make out several police cruisers that were parked near the complex, their lights still on, as well as a black, armored van, with "SWAT" printed on the side in white letters. Officers were gathered together, clearly discussing something, only to turn around to greet the newcomers as the fox and rabbit killed the engine and opened the doors to step out into the rain. If the rainy weather was supposed to play an ominous role of sorts, like it often did in theatrical plays and movies, it was certainly doing its job well.

"Hopps, Wilde, it's good to see you here", the Chief began as both officers saluted him. "So, long story short, we have a hostage situation here. We need your help."

"Sir, with all due respect, maybe the SWAT team would be better for this?", Judy inquired, her facial expression confused, much like the fox's next to her.

"In theory, yes. In practice, no. The suspect asked to see you two specifically. I'm not sure why, but it may be best to do what they ask. You're both officers, among the best in the precinct, so I have faith you'll be able to settle this one."

Both officers in front of him nodded in understanding.

"Since this can get nasty really quickly, I'll need you two to have lethal weapons on you. _However_ , do not use them unless you have no other choice. Remember, your first priority is to diffuse the situation, not escalate it."

"Yes sir", Nick and Judy said in unison, as they headed back to the cruiser to pick up their weapons. They were standard issue police pistols, nothing fancy, but they certainly got the job done. Most of the time, ZPD officers carried only tranquilizer guns, with lethal weapons being very strictly regulated. Only the SWAT teams were able to use them, or when the officers were embarking on a particularly dangerous mission, such as this one. In all other cases, the weapons were left in a hidden compartment in their cruiser.

Having City Hall targeted by a criminal organization to take hostages was a first. Almost all mayors of Zootopia were respected, both by supporters and the opposition alike, not to mention the security in the building was fairly tight. The current mayor was no exception. After the Night Howler incident, Lionheart announced he would not run again in the position, choosing to simply serve in City Hall with his party. His successor was Andrew Theodore, a quick witted, jovial antelope was able to return the city to its former splendor with exceptional results. Many hailed him as the greatest mayor in decades, and being in his early 40s, he still had a great career ahead of him. How could anyone want to target a figure like him, especially when he was doing so much for the city? Both Nick and Judy could only guess as they quietly entered the City Hall, their weapons in their paws, ready to fire back at any target. They were met with almost complete silence.

The massive hall was uncharacteristically empty, and there were no obvious signs of a struggle. If anything, the security forces would have put up a fight against any perp who intruded. Either their suspect simply walked in without any resistance, or he was a really efficient shooter. All in all, it was a strange situation. Then, they saw them - a small group of 4 security guards in blue uniforms and Kevlar vests, huddled close to a wall beside the mayor's office, their weapons drawn. Upon seeing the officers, the guards waved them over.

"Officer Hopps and Officer Wilde, ZPD", Judy announced as both she and Nick flashed their badges, earning a nod from the guards.

"Good, you're just in time", a sheep said nervously. "The suspect wanted to see you two. Shit's not looking too good at the moment."

"Why does he want to see us?", both officers said in unison upon hearing the statement for the second time today.

The sheep shrugged.

"No idea. But it's best to go in there", he replied looking at the mayor's office.

"Wait, they have the _mayor_?!", Nick exclaimed.

" _He_ has the mayor. It's just one guy.", the guard clarified.

"And how exactly did he get through all the security?", was the immediate response from the rabbit cop. Shouldn't the guards have stopped _one_ intruder?

"He killed the 2 guards on this floor almost immediately after entering - one shot for each guard. They stood no chance. By the time the rest of us arrived, he was already in the mayor's office making demands. Trust me, he's good."

Nick and Judy exchanged nervous glances before making their way over to the office.

"No weapons alright? Let's get a read on this guy and try talking our way out. There's almost always a way to get them to crack.", Nick whispered before raising a paw and knocking on the door.

"ZPD - open the door please."

"Ah, it must be the city's heroes!", a smooth, baritone male voice called from the other side. A coyote opened the door for them, holding a gun in his other paw, keeping it trained at the mayor who stood across the room.

"Please, do come in.", the criminal beckoned, closing the door behind them. His voice was not concerned, not nervous - on the contrary, it seemed incredibly nonchalant given the situation.

The fox and rabbit surveyed the room. It wasn't much different from any other day in the office: clean, orderly, and there was no sign of a struggle. Clearly the mayor was caught off guard by this.

"L-listen, b-b-buddy, I'm telling you again, I don't know what you want, and you won't get much from holding me up. The police are here, and I suggest you surrender before it gets worse.", the poor antelope mayor stuttered.

The perp, however, remained unfazed.

"Oh, but I get to see these 2 fine officers in action! Always wanted to see what you can do. To be fair, that's why I called you here in the first place. It's more of a bucket list kinda thing for me", he admitted enthusiastically, almost as if though he was ignoring the mayor's comment, yet providing him with an answer. "I mean, the fun is only beginning."

 _Oh boy, this guy has a bland bucket list..._ Nick thought to himself, but opted not to say anything.

A smile split the coyote's muzzle as he glanced over to the two officers in front of him.

They took in his appearance: reddish-brown fur, fairly slim, but not as slim as Nick, holding a pistol in his gloved paws. He wore dark pants and a black trench coat, which struck the pair as rather odd. Sure, the current weather wasn't warm, but it wasn't so cold as to require one to wear a coat. Was it used to conceal the weapon when he walked in, or is there something else? Did he know something they didn't? If so, he may be one step ahead of them already, something they could not afford.

The officers took a step forward to approach the suspect, only to immediately stop in their tracks as the coyote reached onto the coat and pulled out a string.

"Whoa whoa, officers, I'd suggest you stop there. After all, I'm sure the ZPD would want the two of you in one piece - not in _pieces_. And the office is rather nice too - wouldn't want to ruin it now, would we?"

Both Nick and Judy saw where the string ended. The entire inside of the trench coat was lined with what looked like C4. If it went off, none of them would make it out of the office - death would be instant. The situation just got even trickier to handle.

"Oh, and before we continue... allow me...", the coyote began, walking over to Nick and bringing down the handle of the gun across his face, before swinging it into his stomach. Nick doubled over in pain, spitting out a bit of blood, but otherwise didn't react or retaliate. He knew this was a game for the criminal. He was testing them, and the fox was not going to give him the satisfaction he was looking for. Judy, on the other hand screamed in terror, anger flashing in her eyes, only to subside as the suspect gently tugged on the string, glancing at her with a sly smile, almost like that of Nick when he was pulling a con.

"Hey, remember, you don't want me pulling on this, so I'd suggest you stay where you are and watch", he reminded her. "Sorry about that by the way, Officer Wilde. I've just always wanted to do that to a fox, and believe me, I'm sure many other mammals in the city wouldn't mind doing that either."

The rabbit looked down at her partner with a look of utmost sympathy and concern. The fox glanced up at her.

 _I'm alright, don't worry about me,_ it seemed to say.

"Meh, I've had worse", he stated, trying to put on his smirk again through the pain.

The coyote smirked back, but with a much more venomous look in his eyes.

"Oh? We'll see about that."

The mayor stood there, terror painted on his face as he witnessed the scene unfolding in front of him. The coyote turned towards him and motioned at the door with the gun.

"I have to say, I was expecting something more exciting from the two of you. You pretty much did nothing to stop me? Quite pathetic if you ask me - where's your creativity? I mean... the ZPD must really be running out of good officers if they had to settle for _you_ two", he called back to them with a chuckle.

"Now, where were we? Or right! So, Mr. Mayor, I'm going to ask you to step out of the office and do as I say."

"You know I'm not going anywhere. As long as I'm alive I'll be doing my job, right here", the antelope seethed, determination on his face, the terror gone as quickly as it had come.

"Oh... well, that's a shame", the coyote spoke softly, glancing down at the gun in his paw. He was quickly interrupted when both Nick and Judy pulled out their weapons, aiming them at the suspect. This had gone too far.

"Whatever you are doing, stop in the name of the law!", Judy called out.

The room was silent for a few tense moments.

Just then, the coyote started raising his arm holding the weapon, and a trigger clicked.


	2. The Pursuit

Even though they've gone through countless firing exercises during their academy days, the distinct sound of a gunshot was something they'd never fully get used to hearing. The loud "bang" reverberated through the office, with both Nick and Judy flinching at the sound. For a few moments, they were unsure who's gun had gone off. Was it one of them who instinctively pulled the trigger? As they came back to their senses, their eyes widened in shock at the scene in front of them.

The coyote stood there, gun in hand, while the mayor lay still on the floor, a bullet wound in his chest. For the entire exchange over the past few minutes, it seemed as if the criminal was bluffing, that's certainly the impression Nick and Judy got from him - lots of talk, but no action. They were just proven wrong.

The horror and spontaneity of the situation made the officers freeze up, unable to do or say anything as the coyote glanced at them, his lips forming into a malicious smile of content before turning towards the door and breaking into a run. Almost as if they were guided by instinct alone, the duo took off after him through the massive wooden doors without as much as a second thought.

"Hopps to dispatch - shots fired, repeat, shots fired in City Hall. We have a casualty - need a bus here ASAP.", Judy yelled into her radio, trying to keep her breath steady.

"Roger that Hopps, an ambulance is en route, stand by", came Clawhauser's voice.

Ahead of them, the squad of City Hall security guards had already noticed the running coyote, ready to take action, but Nick interrupted them.

"We'll handle the suspect, don't worry. Tend to the mayor, make sure nobody else gets in our out."

The guards nodded, before moving slowly towards the office, weapons drawn, scanning the area for any other potential suspects before one of them yelled "clear", signaling there were no more intruders as they moved into the office space itself.

Meanwhile, the coyote kept running, this time making his way towards a large staircase leading up to higher floors on the far end of the bright hall. As if a call to the higher powers was answered, a pair of SWAT officers, a boar and a cheetah, conveniently burst through the main entrance.

"ZPD, drop the weapon and stay down!", they called out, but got no response as they tried to block off the coyote's path. The perp ignored them and kept running.

Before either of the SWAT officers could raise their automatic rifles and take aim, the coyote had his weapon up, firing twice. Both rounds hit their marks, with one bullet hitting the cheetah's kevlar vest, knocking him back and the other burying itself in the boar's shoulder, sending him down as well. The guards weren't lying earlier - this guy was _good_.

Both Judy and Nick stopped momentarily, unsure how to proceed with the now-wounded officers in front of them until the cheetah waved them on.

"Get the bastard, we'll be fine", he told them, the pain evident in his voice as he tried catching his breath.

They looked on, trying to find the coyote, who had further separated himself from them, spotting him reaching the top of the staircase before running into one of the many smaller hallways on the second floor. Following his route, they entered a hallway with a multitude of conference rooms on either side, a very modern and minimalist look to the whole place, with occasional pillars decorating the otherwise bland, white path ahead. The conference rooms were all locked, so the only way to go was forward.

The officers saw where the perp was headed. At the end of the hall, there was am emergency exit - the coyote was trying to get out through the side of the building in an attempt to evade the police. They realized they were too late, as the assassin reached the door and pushed... and it didn't budge. It seems City Hall's security team was a few steps ahead of him, having locked every available exit other than the central one.

He turned around to face his pursuers, and for the first time Nick and Judy saw a look of panic on his face, the malicious glint in his eyes gone, replaced by uncertainty and desperation as he realized he had lost.

"You have nowhere to go", Nick called out to him, keeping his weapon pointed at the coyote, ready to fire at any moment. Both he and Judy ensured they had a pair of pillars nearby to seek cover in the event of a gunfight.

Their cautiousness paid off when the coyote wordlessly raised his weapon and opened fire at them, but hitting nothing as the fox and bunny dove for cover, the bullets just narrowly missing them. At this point, he wasn't aiming, instead repeatedly pulling on the trigger in an attempt to get as many shots out as possible, draining his clip in seconds. They heard him curse as he got behind a pillar of his own, followed by the distinct sound of a gun being reloaded. He was no longer the composed and calculated assassin in the mayor's office. His demeanor was replaced by that of a cornered, uncivilized animal, with no means of escape but to continuously lash out and hope for the best.

A few shots followed from him, before he paused, the lull in the gunfire allowing both officers to lean out from behind their cover and return fire. They too, hit nothing as the coyote hid behind the pillar.

"We have you surrounded and you have nowhere to go! Come quietly while we're still giving you the chance! This is your final warning!", Judy yelled.

"Negative officers", the coyote called back from his cover, just slightly turning his head in their direction. "I'm running free, much like the rest of the city in time!"

Just then, peeking out from his cover, Nick saw an opportunity. While replying to their offer of surrender, the assassin had exposed a shoulder, allowing it to poke out from his cover. Nick steadied his aim and fired, hoping to incapacitate their opponent with a well-placed shot. Unfortunately, what he didn't expect was for the coyote to lean further out in an attempt to return fire. By the time the trigger was pulled, Nick's sights were set not on the shoulder as intended, but on the neck. By the time he realized this, it was too late.

His gun went off, and the coyote across the hall froze, eyes widening in terror and pain, before falling over, blood running from his mouth and neck as the bullet hit its unintended mark.

Nick stood there, dumbstruck.

"Oh god oh god oh god...", he repeated quietly. "Call the medics!"

The pair approached the suspect cautiously, appalled at the scene in front of them as Judy reached over to the radio, calling the paramedics to their location. The coyote lay there, shaking violently, as his wide eyes stared at the ceiling. Blood pooled around him as it leaked from the wound in his neck, staining his fur and trench coat. He was trying to speak, but nothing came.

"Nick, you don't have to look", Judy told him quietly as she saw her partner's gaze transfixed on this horrific sight. His expression was blank and unreadable. She simply took his paw in hers and gently squeezed it, her concern only growing when he didn't squeeze back. His paw felt limp, almost as if he himself was the one laying on the floor.

The paramedics arrived moments later, ushering them out of the hallway to clear the area. The pair of officers slowly made their way towards the exit.

Suddenly, Nick tore his paw from Judy's grip, running over to the nearest trash can and vomiting, clearing his stomach of all of the pent up stress and contents. Judy approached him as he leaned over the bin, eyes closed and arms trembling. She gently rubbed his back, a look of pain and concern for him on her face as he vomited again. Once he was done, he turned to her and smiled weakly.

"What a day, huh?", he spoke quietly, his trademark smirk returning to his face, though perhaps a little more strained than usual.

Judy said nothing in response, instead, grabbing a handkerchief and wiping the corners of his mouth with it, getting the little bit of remaining bile off.

"Let's head outside, I'll get you some water", she stated simply, not wanting to be in this building any longer.

They walked in silence, passing though the massive entrance into the rain outside, both lost in their thoughts, mostly those of regret and failure. The city was counting on them, and they failed. Now, the mayor was injured, maybe even dead for all they knew.

Chief Bogo spotted them as they exited through the doors and walked over.

"The mayor's stable for now. He's being taken to the hospital as we speak. The medics believe he should be fine", he reassured them, taking note of the evident distress on their faces.

Both officers nodded in unison, their expressions blank.

"Hopps, Wilde", he sighed, readying one of the many variations of a speech he had to give countless times before to rookie officers, "I wasn't in the office with the mayor and the suspect so I didn't see what happened. _However_ , if there are any officers that I'm convinced always perform to the best of their abilities, it would be the two of you. I'm sure you did all you could. Believe me, as much as it hurts to say, you can't save everyone, even if it's the mayor... and unfortunately, this probably won't be the last time something like this will happen in your careers. It never gets easier - it's harsh, but it's life."

"Yes sir", Judy muttered quietly. Nick remained where he was, his expression impassive, one paw over his stomach, trying to relieve the pain he was experiencing in his gut while the other paw grasped a cup of water that was handed to him just moments ago.

"Good, I'll need a report from you once you get back to the precinct. You'll be dismissed early today, you've seen enough for one shift I think. Report to me tomorrow morning and we'll figure out what to do from here depending on how events unfold. We need to figure out if this mammal was working alone or if he had help."

Nick and Judy silently saluted him, before heading over to their cruiser. They ignored the rain that had already drenched them. In fact, it almost felt as if it was washing the pain and guilt of failure off their fur. They just wanted to get out of here and forget this ever happened.

"Hey, on the bright side, we got him.", Judy broke the silence, trying to smile, hoping to bring up the atmosphere. Nick simply nodded.

She was in the force for just over a year now, having the 6 extra months of experience over her partner, who spent those months training at the academy. She realized Nick may not take this case as confidently as herself. She already learned to get over failures such as this one over the past year, instead trying to focus on the bigger picture and solve the case. Guilt was natural, and she would always feel down for a short time, but would always be quick to pick herself back up and continue.

Nick, on the other paw, was different, being much more perceptive of smaller details everywhere, but it also meant he took these failures much more personally. He tried not to show it, convincing most mammals he was in great spirits, but his partner saw through it. Judy could see that despite his calm facade he was putting up, today's incident was getting to him. The initial shock was clearing for her, allowing her to be her usual self again and get back to work. She was determined to ensure the same could be said for her partner.

For Nick, however, it wasn't the mayor's injury that haunted him. In his previous years as a con artist, he had long learned the harsh realities of life, despite only being 30. Instead, it was the firefight that concerned him, and the uncertainty of the coyote's condition. Sure, the coyote was a criminal, and as a cop it was Nick's job to go to such lengths to protect the city, but the perp was a mammal nonetheless. The last thing Nick wanted to do was physically harm or kill someone. The fresh wave of guilt washed over him again, but he was determined to keep it hidden. They were on a case, now was not the time for these feelings - he'll deal with them later like he always would.

 _He may not have killed the mayor, but he got close. If that murderous son of a bitch wakes up,_ he thought with a mix of anger and regret, trying to toughen up a little, _I'll make him fucking talk._

The rain pounded on the car's metal frame and windows as they drove away from the complex towards the precinct, their guilt slowly being replaced my determination. They didn't need to say anything to know what the other was thinking.

The coyote's last words before being shot played back in their minds: _"I'm running free, much like the rest of the city in time!"_. What was that about? Clearly it wasn't some random statement. It must have had some meaning...

They were going to get to the bottom of this, one way or another.


	3. Hollow

"First, Lionheart gets caught up in the savage predator conspiracy and gets arrested, then Bellweather is the one orchestrating it, she gets arrested too, and finally Theodore gets shot. Looks like it's been a bad time for mayors as of late if you ask me", Nick muttered, just loud enough for his partner to hear as they worked on their report.

It was only around 2:30 in the afternoon, with their shift normally being far from over, generally stretching into the evening, but today's events have cut their day short as per Chief Bogo, who opted to let them off early after finishing the task at hand. Their determination remained, their discussions centered around the report as they tried making it as detailed as possible, not missing a single element that could potentially snag them a lead. It seems as if all the regular bickering was forgotten. After roughly an hour of writing, the pair made their way to the Chief's office, only to find he had not yet returned from the crime scene. They left the report with Clawhauser at the front desk, wanting to get away from the station and rest.

The rain had already stopped by then, the clouds still hanging low over the earth, as if nature itself knew how the duo felt and wanted to reflect it. The gloom was pushing down on them, not doing anything to help clear the tension that has already settled after the case. Both their minds were lost in their own thoughts to varying degrees. Judy was in the process of pushing the negative away, fighting what was definitely a winning battle. As for Nick? Well, Nick wasn't so lucky.

They wandered for a few hours like this, with only the occasional brief exchange of words, usually involving some kind of observation from either of them, but never quite turning into a proper conversation like it normally would. Over time, the sky grew darker, and the world gloomier despite the streetlights and buildings seeming to illuminate the entire city with bright lights.

The pair ate at a random diner - simple food, which suited their current moods quite well. They really didn't have any appetite for exquisite dishes of any kind, not wanting to waste money on something they wouldn't come to appreciate. Plus, good dishes are usually reserved for celebrations, and what was there to celebrate today? Absolutely nothing. Either way, Judy was secretly glad Nick was able to eat in general right now, especially considering he was violently sick just a few hours ago.

As they finished eating, paid their bills and were exiting the diner, Judy suddenly had an idea.

"Oh hey, so maybe we could...", she began with a glimmer of hope in her voice, hoping to suggest some kind of activity to brighten her partner's mood.

"Sleep", Nick abruptly interrupted her, the word sounding almost final, as if he was concluding her unspoken thoughts.

Nick's normally bright green eyes were almost entirely devoid of their usual lively light, being replaced with a tiredness that was not only physical, but mental.

_Yeah, definitely mental._

Judy looked at him expectantly, hoping he would continue his thought. Nick, thankfully, took the cue.

"Listen, Carrots, I understand you want to spend the evening doing something to get our minds off all this, but we've had an intense day today, and a long day ahead as well. We need to get ready for a potential case, and to be quite honest, when that coyote wakes up, I want to figure out what the bastard wanted."

The fox's voice almost broke at the end of the sentence as he attempted to keep his emotions in check. Judy knew the coyote's condition after receiving the wound was critical at best, and she could tell Nick realized that as well, yet he was clearly hoping he didn't kill the mammal.

"Nick, I understand", Judy reassured him, rubbing his arm with one of her paws, before sliding it down and taking his paw in hers. Nick simply nodded in response, his gaze cast down, almost in shame. "Do you want me to walk you back? You seem really down..."

"Nah, Judy, I'm fine", he replied, causing Judy to flinch and look up. He rarely called her by her name, only doing so when something was amiss.

"Are you sure? It's not that big a..."

"Positive", he interrupted her again, as he crouched down to have his eyes meet hers, trying to lighten up a little. "I really appreciate all this, I do. It's just... I need some time to process this. I'm sorry."

Judy simply nodded, a faint smile spreading on her lips.

"I understand", she said, before pulling him into a quick but tender hug, hoping to communicate all she was feeling at the moment to him.

A few moments later, they broke apart, silently walking in opposite directions, with Judy's smile slipping into a nervous frown.

* * *

The morning couldn't have come soon enough. The night was fairly restless for the two of them, but all in all they managed to catch at least a bit of shuteye. Judy was at the precinct early as per usual, most of her nervousness gone, mostly replaced with the usual excitement of starting a new day. By the time Nick entered, just minutes before the bullpen briefing started, it seemed he was back to normal as well, a trademark smirk back on his face. It was not as obvious as usual, but it was certainly better than nothing.

"Ready to make the world a better place, partner?", she proclaimed, extending a fist in his direction.

"Nope", he stated simply, before his smile grew wider and bumping his fist against hers, letting the rabbit know he was only teasing her.

This was certainly better than yesterday, Judy figured she'd test the waters to see if her partner was realy faring as well as it seemed.

"So, what do you think the Chief will make of yesterday?"

"Well, I think first off, with that research paper of a report we wrote, he'd better award us PhD's in criminology and low for our efforts, maybe in math as well, because hey, counting the number of shots taken is a skill too. It's an exemplary report if I may say so myself - an example to all officers everywhere."

Judy simply shook her head with a smile, quickly muttering "dumb fox". Her favorite partner was back.

They settled into their spots in the bullpen, with many of the officers glancing at them, impressed thy were able to return to work so quickly after their experience the other day.

The Chief acknowledged them with a small nod as they took their seats.

"Hopps, Wilde - it's good to see you back. Now then, on with the assignments..."

The rest of the briefing was uneventful, with most officers receiving regular assignments, with an occasional quip from Nick, followed by an annoyed Bogo telling Nick to shut his mouth, quietly questioning why he even selected the fox to join the precinct in the first place.

Finally, it came to Nick and Judy to receive their tasks for the day.

"Okay, so now that leaves us with Hopp and Wilde", he stated. "You two will be given an assignment based on yestersay's events. We'll discuss it further in my office."

The buffalon said no more, as he motioned them to follow him out. Opening the door to his office, he ushered them in, before stepping out to grab a mug of coffee.

Nick was evidently nervous - the shootout was still haunting him, and they would almost certainly be briefed on the condition of the suspect. The only peace of mind he was going to get was to know the truth, but damn, it was nerveracking. Judy simply took his paw in hers and squeezed it reassuringly.

Within a few minutes, the Chief returned, a calm look on his face and a folder in his hands - their report. The pair immediately sat at attention, with Judy letting go of Nick's paw.

"Well, let's begin shall we?", he started, glancing at the two officers sitting across from him. "I have to say, you report-writing skills are most impressive. A lot of officers here could learn from you."

He let those words sink in for a few seconds, feeling the tension in the room ease off ever so slightly.

"However", he continued, raising the folder, "we did, unfortunately, lose a key witness."

Nick's ears fell flat against his head at the sound of those words.

"No... please don't tell me", he began muttering, his breathing becoming more shallow and faster-paced, his eyes filling with panic.

"The suspect died on the way to the hospital. The bullet only grazed his jugular vein, but it was enough to cause uncontrollable bleeding. He was gone within minutes of being loaded into the ambulance. So, that leaves us with no suspects to interrogate on the matter at this time."

Nick instinctively reached up and felt his neck in the spot he received a bullet wound just months before on his very first patrol - a wound that also nearly took his life. He couldn't imagine what it must have felt like to lay there, bleeding out with no chance of survival, a thought that brought him overwhelming emotions.

Naturally, both Bogo and Judy expected Nick to break slightly upon hearing the news, given his condition over the past day, but what they didn't see coming was the fox removing his badge from his uniform, setting it on the table and wordlessly walking out of the room, almost slamming the door behind him. The two remaining mammals glanced at each other in surprise, before Judy rushed out to follow her defeated partner and salvage the situation, leaving Bogo shaking his head in dismay.

"Nick!", Judy desperately called out to him while running out of the hallway as the fox made his way through the precinct's massive main hall towards the exit. It almost felt like the day he walked out after the press conference that nearly ruined their friendship. He couldn't quit now - not after all they've gone through. That thought alone made Judy's heart wrench.

Thankfully, her partner paused upon hearing his name, though he didn't look back at her. Catching up to him, Judy reached out carefully to grasp his paw, only to have Nick move his arm out of the way. The action made her hesitate - how could he become so broken so quickly? She walked up to face him, and immediately caught sight of the tears welling up in the fox's eyes, which themselves were full of pain.

"I... I killed him Judy. I killed a mammal... he was alive and I just... I just took it from him...", he muttered, his voice cracking with every word.

The rabbit simply hugged him, feeling his chest rise and fall with every shuddering breath he took, trying to keep his emotions from spilling out.

Nick's mind was a mess. It felt as if every possible emotion was bombarding the walls he set up over the years, yet he couldn't put anything into words, hell, he couldn't even get himself to break down and cry properly. In theory, he knew this was his job. He was a cop - if a firefight happens, there was always a high probability of someone being shot, and potentially killed. In practice, however, it was so much more complicated. In his life as a con-artist, he had done many awful things, he had stolen, lied, cheated his way through life, but never at the expense of other mammal's well-being. That was his one rule - never physically harm anyone. Nonetheless, he had seen his fair share of disturbing images throughout his criminal life. Because of that, he was able to handle their first homicide case rather well, while Judy had to take a few days off just to process everything. He had seen death a few times, unfortunately enough, even if it was simply stumbling upon bodies in crime-ridden areas of the city. He just never thought he would be the one to bring death about. Despite learning how to use lethal weapons at the academy, and being rather good with them at that, he secretly hoped he'd never have to use them to injure or kill. Alas, it seemed his wish was not to last.

He was lost in these thoughts until he heard a mumble from his partner below, her face buried in his uniform.

"Huh?", he asked, his voice seemingly disconnected from all that was going on in his head, coming out as more of a random sound than a proper word.

"I'm sorry... I... I can imagine how you feel", came the quiet reply.

A mix of sorrow, anger and plain surprise became the dominating emotions within him at that moment. How could she even _imagine_ how he felt? How could she be sorry for something she didn't do? She did nothing to cause this, she was not at fault here. It was _he_ who had to live with the consequences of taking a life.

"Oh, so you know how I feel huh?", he asked, irritation begging to creep into his voice as Judy looked up at him nervously, fearing he was going to crumble further from her comment. Deep inside, she regretted saying it.

 _Maybe it was better to just leave it at "sorry",_ she pondered.

"Alright, so let me make one thing clear here", the fox continued, his voice rising slightly in anger and agitation. " _You_ didn't take the shot - _I_ did. _You_ didn't _do_ anything to take his life, _I'm_ the one at fault here. _I_ have to live with this..."

"But we're partners!", Judy protested with urgency in her tone, "We do everything together. What affects you affects me as well. It's not that simple. I was in the firefight as well... not to mention that guy knew what could happen. What do you think, he expected to shoot at us while we do nothing? _NO,_ obviously we'll defend ourselves!"

"Well, allow me to put it this way then", Nick stated in a cold tone, his voice almost a whisper. "If I remember correctly, you never _killed_ anyone on duty, have you?"

"No but...", Judy began, until a third, deeper voice interrupted them.

"But I have", Chief Bogo stated, walking up from behind them.

"Iknow what you're going through Wilde. Believe me, it's not easy. First, however, how about we return to my office - I have something to tell you two."

His voice wasn't angered, it didn't even contain any of its usual strictness. Instead, it was calm, controlled, and both Nick and Judy could have sworn they saw a flash of sympathy in the Chief's eyes. He wasn't just saying these things to make them feel better. He genuinely _knew_ how they felt at that very moment.

They walked quietly to his office, the duo too nervous to even utter a single word. The Chief stopped by the coffee machine to fill up a pair of mugs for Nick and Judy, before they returned to his office and sat down in their previous seats.

The buffalo sighed before glancing at the pair. They were great cops, with great careers ahead of them, but they still had much to learn.

"I'm assuming both of you were much too young at the time to remember this yourselves, but I'm sure you've at least heard of the infamous Zootopia Central Bank Raid of '92. Actually, Hopps, I don't even think you were born yet, if not only just born.", he finished with a slight chuckle.

Both mammals in front of him nodded, allowing him to continue. His face turned serious again.

"It was the incident that to this day caused the greatest number of civilian hostage deaths in the history of Zootopia. Most officers who were there will very rarely discuss the incident, because it's definitely one of the darker chapters of the city's history. Nonetheless, let me tell you a story of my own..."

Nick and Judy both raised a brow almost simultaneously, wondering what the Chief was going to say next. Clearly it was of importance if he actually called them back for _this._ Their mental question was answered almost immediately when the buffalo finished the sentence.

"I was there on that day. And as some mammals put it, I was the so-called 'hero' who ended it, even though to this day I largely disagree."

* * *

**And so we'll end the chapter here. The next one's gonna be a bit of a "storytime" chapter if you will, so sit tight. It'll certainly be an interesting one - this time going into Bogo's past.**

**As always, thanks for the continued support everyone, be it with views, favs, follows or reviews! It's really appreciated! :)**


	4. Bogo's Story

The summer sun beat down on the city as 27-year-old Lieutenant Bogo raced up the stairs of the office building with his partner, rookie cop Officer Greyson, a grey wolf who had only been in the force for just over two months. The day itself was rather uneventful, with both officers enjoying a quiet patrol when they were called down to a crime scene that was a first of its kind: the Zootopia Central Bank was being held up by a group of armed robbers. They were quite clearly inexperienced, thinking the job would be a quick in-and-out operation before they realized the main reason no one has ever tried to rob the ZCB - the security was among the best of its kind. An alarm was quickly tripped, notifying the police of an intrusion. Things weren't looking too good for the criminals as the ZPD slowly but efficiently surrounded the bank's entrance, trying to decide how to best proceed. Hell, they didn't even know how many mammals were in the building at the moment.

Bogo's and Greyson's task upon their arrival was simple - survey the area just outside the bank from a vantage point on one of the many taller buildings surrounding the building in question. Despite being a rookie, Greyson was quick to point out a building that suited their needs perfectly, providing them a great overview of the scene, yet keeping them well-hidden as well. The duo had only been working together for two months, but very quickly it became evident their skill-sets complemented each other perfectly - Bogo was the stronger one, often going for a more "intimidating" approach when solving cases, relying on brute force to simply overpower crooks and arrest them (which, many years down the road, would also reflect in his selection of almost exclusively large mammals for his precinct), while Greyson was a much more tactical thinker, trying to plan ahead and outsmart criminals to catch them, and keep fellow officers out of danger, even though he too, was fairly strong himself. Thankfully, this afternoon they wouldn't be going into the fray that could potentially begin in the event of a raid on the bank.

Bogo unpacked his designated marksman rifle - a weapon more akin to a sniper than an assault rifle, but was designed for officers not specializing in long-range shooting. It had the range, but was still simple enough to operate for any officer in the force. Greyson, acting as a spotter, adjusted his binoculars to focus on the bank's main entrance - a grand archway with massive glass doors and a marble floor visible just behind them on the inside of the building.

"Operations, Bogo and Greyson are in position", the buffalo spoke into his radio, letting the makeshift command center set up in the streets below know they were ready.

"Roger, standby for instructions.", the mammal on the other side of the line replied, the voice slightly distorted by the static.

The officers waited for a few minutes, feeling the tension growing in the area as the clock ticked on and the ZPD lost precious time - time in which they could have raided the bank and gotten everyone out.

"So I see you chose the DMR for this one eh?", Greyson suddenly asked, feeling the need to ease the tension a little.

"Yeah, that's the one", Bogo replied, nodding towards the weapon in his hooves. "Truth be told, I've never fired one at a live target - hopefully won't have to today either."

Despite being in the force for just under 5 years, the buffalo thankfully never had to fatally shoot anyone. Sure, he used lethal weapons before, sometimes even resorting to firing warning shots and occasionally incapacitating a criminal, but never anything beyond that.

Before they could continue the conversation, the radio crackled to life again.

"Attention all units, we're sending in two officers into the building to try deescalating the situation. They will have wires on them, so do pay attention to anything that is heard from them. We have very limited information on what's going on inside, so we'll have to play this one by ear everyone."

The prospect didn't look good. It was understandable as to why no plan could be made - the ZCB was a massive establishment, with thousands of mammals visiting daily for a variety of reasons. There's no telling what awaited the officers beyond the doors inside until someone scouted the area out. Still, improvising was certainly not the best option. For all they knew, this could have put the criminals several steps ahead of them. They may have been an inexperienced group of robbers, but they most likely still had a plan.

The paid focused on the entrance as a pair of officers entered the building - a lynx and an antelope, weapons in their holsters to avoid sparking any aggression. Bogo stared intently through the scope of his large-caliber rifle while Greyson stood absolutely still - barely breathing as he watched and listened to the situation unfold through his binoculars.

"Operations, this is Officer Hornsby", a voice came through the radio, most likely the antelope relaying information to the group waiting outside.

"Hornsby, operations - go ahead."

"No signs of a fight on the inside and no signs of security either - it seems they most likely took them out quietly as they got in, probably through an alternate entrance. The group is 6 masked mammals, all ocelots by the looks of it. 17 hostages."

"Hornsby, could you please repeat that last part?"

"Roger, I repeat - 17 hostages, all on their knees and held at gunpoint... suspects armed with automatic rifles, shotguns and submachine guns. They certainly came prepared."

The report was interrupted by what seemed to be a loudspeaker switching on inside the bank, picked up the wires on the officers.

"Officers, stand down. I'm sure you don't want anyone hurt here, so we recommend you listen to our demands", an unknown voice spoke - probably one of the attackers.

A tense silence followed.

"The list is not a long one, so I'm sure you could figure something out", the voice continued, echoing through the massive hall of the bank. "ONE: we request you call off all raids and clear the area. We want to leave as we are, with no arrests made. TWO: each one of us is allowed to carry out whatever cash from the vaults we have managed to take before you all burst in. We have roughly $30 million total in our bags, you have my word for it, that's all we've taken - I'm sure that's only pennies relative to what the bank has."

Another pause.

"That's it. Doesn't seem like a lot, does it? We're giving you 30 seconds to decide, or we'll have to take extreme measures."

"Operations, don't listen to them, it's a bluff.", an officer said through the open channel.

"Negative, officer", Hornsby interrupted, "if you were here you'd probably think otherwise."

"They're clearly beginners, you could tell how quickly they set off the alarms. They don't have the guts to do anything extreme.", a third officer piped up.

"Guys, we don't have much time, the two of us are outmammaled and outgunned here. Come up with something quick.", a fourth voice came, probably that of the lynx inside the building.

The channel was silent. Bogo checked his wristwatch. They had only seconds to decide what to do. The time limit came and went, and no offer from the police came.

"Well, officers, I'm sorry, but you're out of time.", the voice from the loudspeaker stated, before the wires picked up what sounded like the loading of weapons.

"FUCK, NO!", Hornsby could be heard shouting, before a loud bang was heard on the radio channel.

"Officer down! Off...", the antelope shouted before he himself was silenced.

"SWAT teams, go go go.", the command center ordered, an almost contradictory sense of calmness in the operator's voice, greatly contrasting the carnage that was happening inside the bank.

Within less than a minute, the group of criminals was led out, all of them with their paws in the air. However, something was off. There were supposed to be 6 of them, but Bogo could only count 5... was one of them killed?

"One of them's getting away!", Greyson shouted beside him into the radio. "Just off to the left side of the entrance there's an alley. Suspect's making a run for it"

Sure enough, one of the masked attackers was sprinting towards an alley - out of sight of the majority of the police gathered outside the entrance. If nothing was done, Bogo guessed they had roughly 10 seconds before the criminal got away entirely. This was the exact reason they were put on a rooftop - to catch anyone who tried to escape. Unfortunately, it seemed as if none of the officers on the ground could catch the criminal, given the distance he already covered. That left them with one option...

"Lieutenant Bogo - there's nothing we can do. Change of plan - take the shot.", came the order from the command center.

"Sir... but...", the buffalo began to protest.

"Bogo, take the shot. If he dies, he dies. He knew what was coming", his superiors ordered, their voices as calm as always, but commanding nonetheless.

The buffalo breathed out and steadied his sights. Ideally, he could maybe shoot the ocelot in the leg and knock him down, but he suddenly realized the only shot he'd have was one to the head. Accounting for the time the bullet had to travel in the air, the criminal would already be mostly concealed by the various obstacles scattered around the entrance of the alley. his head would be the only part of the body that was exposed.

He steadied the rifle and pulled the trigger.

The weapon kicked back as the bullet was propelled forward. Within a second or so, the suspect below them lurched and fell over, blood splattering all over the wall across from him as the large bullet pierced his skull with ease. It was a rather gruesome scene.

"Suspect down", Greyson spoke through the radio.

"Good job Bogo. You may have just saved the city.", the commanding officer congratulated him.

It was later found that the suspect he killed was the group's leader and mastermind behind the attack, with a record of past offences. He must have escaped during the firefight with the SWAT team, and had he gotten away, this would certainly not have been his last crime. As it was later learned, he was also the one who ordered the slaughter of all the hostages when the police didn't reply to their demands. They were dead - 17 innocent mammals, each one ruthlessly shot, in addition to the 2 officers who went in to negotiate. It was a miracle, however, that the ZPD managed to bring all the other suspects in alive, albeit most of them were injured to various degrees in the gunfight.

A day of mourning was announced by the mayor after this terrible tragedy, but nonetheless, Bogo was hailed a hero in the city - having eliminated a criminal who could have potentially terrorized the population for years to come had he escaped. If he was ready to kill 17 civilians at a whim, there was no telling what other terrible things he'd be ready to do in the future.

Despite the recognition, the award ceremony, and even a promotion to the rank of Captain, the buffalo didn't feel proud. He felt no sense of elation that was always portrayed in movies and cop shows when the villain was gone. He felt incredibly guilty - regardless if the mammal was a murderer, he was still a living being. Regardless of his crime, it seemed to Bogo he had no right to decide whether he lived or died. Nonetheless, it was his job, and in the years to come he would be involved in more operations that would result in deaths of criminals, fellow officers and sometimes even civilians, both bystanders and hostages alike. It never got easier, but ultimately, he had to protect the city, even if it meant going to these extremes.

* * *

"So there you have it", Chief Bogo concluded as he took a moment to survey the two younger officers in front of him. Both had looks of extreme surprise on their faces, eyes wide and mouths open.

The incident Bogo described was eerily similar to what Nick and Judy had just experienced in City Hall, albeit on a smaller scale - it seems some things never change.

"No matter how many operations I've gone through", he continued, "I still haven't forgiven myself for that day. Hell, I thankfully haven't had to shoot many mammals in my years as a field officer, but nonetheless, it doesn't get easier, and rightfully so. Taking a life never feels right, even if it's the life of a dangerous criminal who could otherwise kill innocent mammals if left alive. However, it's something we sometimes have to resort to in extreme cases. Sometimes there is no other way to go about it but to take the shot."

"I'm sorry", Judy muttered, in a barely audible whisper.

"Don't be", Bogo replied. "I just want to let you two know you're not alone in this. You have everyone's support here."

"What happened to Greyson? The two of you seemed like you were good friends", Nick asked, "did he..."

"No, Officer Greyson, or should I say - Chief Greyson is still alive and well. He's the chief or Precinct 4. The two of us had great careers as partners in the force, but obviously as we rose up the ranks, we eventually got split up. We're still great friends though."

The fox and bunny nodded. Neither had expected the Chief to reveal such an emotional story, given his normally tough exterior. Nonetheless, it seems there's always some way to get to someone. Killing a mammal was universally awful for almost everyone.

Bogo slowly slid Nick's badge across the table towards the still-distraught fox. Despite the Chief's reassurance, he was still haunted by the fact he had also killed a mammal.

"Put your badge back on Wilde.", the Chief said encouragingly. "You can't keep putting all the blame on yourself for what occurred. In a firefight, anything can happen - it's life or death and all bets are off. That coyote knew full well what he was going for and the risks involved. He knew he might not, hell, he _probably_ wouldn't have made it out alive. I know you feel terrible right now, but you're an officer. As unfortunate as it is, you must also learn to move on. Yes, it's a good thing you feel awful about it, I'd be very concerned if you didn't feel bad about killing someone. Let yourself feel awful, it's perfectly normal, but you also have a job to do. We, as officers, need to protect the city, and sometimes the costs may be great - sometimes mammals will die."

He let the words sink in for a few seconds, before picking up the badge and handing it to the fox. Nick looked up at it, before silently taking it pinning it to his uniform once more.

"Good", Bogo stated, before turning to face Nick. "Now, I'm going to give you this assignment, but I know some officers don't take incidents like this as lightly as others. There's no shame in wanting to take a medical leave to mentally recover from this. I don't want to lose a good officer. If you take this up, I just want you to answer a simple question - not for me, but for your own sake: are you ready to do this? Again, there's not shame in saying no."

The Chief's point made complete sense to Nick. He was indeed feeling awful, and he knew it was part of his job description to sometimes resort to lethal force against dangerous criminals. Maybe he should take a few days off...

Then suddenly something clicked inside. Judy would still be put on the case. If he went on leave right now, she would have to potentially go out into the field alone, with no support, and he wouldn't be able to help her. He had to do this - for Judy.

He sighed.

"I'll do it."

The buffalo merely nodded, before continuing, this time producing a folder from his desk.

"Your assignment is simple for now. The investigators have linked the attack with a gang that's been around for quite some time. They call themselves "The Wild", but they've been largely out of the spotlight for most of their existence, so we don't know much about them. A lot of their dealings are tough to track, but hopefully we could figure something out now that they've made such a huge statement with the attack on City Hall. Whether this was a one-off incident or they're planning something big is unknown. For now, our team can handle things, so the two of you are getting the day off tomorrow. When you're back though, I want you to go through previous cases and evidence to find any links we may have from the past. Once we find some leads, the two of you will be sent out into the field to investigate further. Understood?"

Nick and Judy both nodded in unison.

"Good. Dismissed."


	5. A Dangerous Game

 

Judy stood outside Nick's apartment door, hesitating whether or not to knock. It was only 8:00 in the morning on their day off, but something told her Nick was probably up already, which was still rather unnatural for him. She was almost certain he didn't get much sleep that night, however. Even though the fox tried putting the mask back on to make it seem he was fine after the incident at City Hall, he wasn't quite the same. It may have fooled most of the officers, even Chief Bogo, but not her.

She was determined to get him out today. It just didn't feel right to leave Nick alone with his poisonous thoughts, not even for a few moments. Making up her mind, she raised a paw and knocked a few times. Her sensitive ears picked up movement on the other side, albeit sluggish, indicating her partner was almost certainly up, but barely awake.

The door opened slightly and Nick peeked out, wearing a red bathrobe and an exhausted look on his face.

"So now you could read minds or something?", he joked groggily, slightly surprised at the sight of the uninvited guest. "How'd you know I was up?"

"Took a wild guess", she replied with a smirk. "Come on, get dressed and let's get breakfast. I'm getting you outside today. You need some fresh air."

The fox stood there surprised for a few seconds, before he realized there's no point in arguing. He opened the door further, letting her in.

"Help yourself to whatever you'd like. I'll be ready in a few.", he spoke, almost slurring his words from his tiredness.

Judy nodded, taking in the apartment once more. Despite them spending lots of time with one another, they didn't visit each other init heir respective homes as often. However, Nick's apartment was just the way she remembered it from the last time she visited. Despite its initial simple layout, it was incredibly organized, so much like the fox she knew.

The decor was minimalist, with only the essentials being present in the living room and kitchen - a table, some chairs, a rather nice, modern-styled sofa and across from it, a flat screen TV hanging on the wall near a large bookshelf. It was safe to assume his bedroom was just as simplistic in design. If a room could reflect one's state of mind, Nick's would definitely be fairly clear and calculated, given his many years as a con-artist.

 _Always one step ahead of the game,_ she thought to herself as the fox finally left his room, wearing his usual jeans, dress shirt and tie. He glanced at her and nodded, indicating he was ready to head out. It was going to be a good day.

* * *

**_Later that evening_ **

The office was mostly dark, largely thanks to the nearly black coloration of the walls, with only a few pot lights and the sunset outside providing some ambient light for the desk in the middle of the room, which was the only piece of furniture. Two mammals sat across form one another - the one behind the desk itself was a slim, dark-brown mink, dressed in an all-black suit, almost too formal for the somewhat rundown look of the office, while the other one was a rather muscular mustang, a much more casual look to him, with a simple white t-shirt and black jeans.

"You know the ZPD will call for guns to be fully authorized after this one, right?", the mammal across from the mink spoke nervously.

"So?", the mink inquired.

"It'll be a lot harder to do all... _this_ when they have lethal weapons everywhere? This plan to kill the mayor was foolish from the start, I warned you it may have consequences."

"No, it won't be tougher at all, keep in mind, most of the officers have almost no experience with firearms. By the time they get some practice to even be _decently_ good, it'll be all but too late. The job would be done.", the mink responded, a very slight French accent present in his voice.

The mink got down from his chair, moving towards the window that provided a decent view of Foxtown. Perhaps it wasn't the greatest location to set up his office in his opinion, but nobody asked questions around here as to what they were doing, so it was a win in his books.

"However", he continued with a sigh, not bothering to look back at his guest. "I do agree, this operation was poorly planned. What can you do though, our coyote friend, Clawson, was a victim of... natural selection, shall we say? It's among the fundamental rules of nature if you remember, which is largely what our organization advocates. He wasn't strong, clever or resourceful enough to get away from the ZPD at that moment, and paid the ultimate price. It's just a pity we had to lose such a good agent of our cause."

"You do know it was Hopps and Wilde who stopped him, not just some random cops?"

The mink turned around, raising a brow.

"Ok, and...?", he asked, urging the horse to continue.

"I'm sure you know they're probably the most promising officers the ZPD has to offer, right?", the mustang inquired, trying to get his point across.

"I _do_ know that. What are you implying?", the mink asked disinterestedly.

"So... perhaps we can... you know... get them out of the way? Prevent them from causing any more trouble? I'm pretty sure had it been any other officer, Clawson would still be alive.", the guest suggested.

"I've already got that covered", the mink replied with a smirk.

"Wait, really?"

"Oh yeah, I'll send them out with a bang, pardon my pun. A courier is already on the way to Wilde's apartment as we speak. It's very likely the two of them will be there at this time of evening, if our intel about their day off is correct."

"Are you sure they'll be taken out? I'm fairly certain it'll take more than a small bomb to kill them."

"No, but I'm not actually expecting them to die either today. I quite like those two to be honest. Much like Clawson, I'm curious to see what they're capable of. I'd prefer to keep them around a little longer if I can, while they still don't pose a direct threat to us. Quite frankly, if this bomb kills them, I'll be _very_ disappointed. It'll be a rather anticlimactic end for both of them."

"You're playing quite a dangerous game here sir. One misstep and everything will be ruined. You know how quickly they can uncover clues. We can't afford to lose anyone else, and we certainly can't afford to underestimate them", the other mammal said tensely.

"Of course I'm playing the dangerous game, then again, we've always been playing it. I'll just have a bit of fun with them while I can, pull them into the game as well, toss them around here and there so-to-speak. Have them chase pointless clues and watch them get frustrated with their efforts and maybe suffer a little along the way, both mentally and physically. The only difference is, I'll be distancing myself from all this when I can so my safety and freedom won't be in peril."

"Heh, didn't think you'd choose the sadistic approach with those two.", the mustang chuckled, crossing his arms.

"I'M NOT A SADIST!", the mink exploded as he turned to face the mammal, causing the much larger mammal to shrink back, despite his much larger size. The mink relaxed a little, fixing his tie and turning back to look out the window, continuing to speak calmly. "The ZPD are simply too linear in their approach for my tastes - too predictable. Those two, however, they think differently - that's what makes them so unique. They're not conventional in their line of work."

He smiled to himself.

"Yeah, I'd love putting them through hell. Best of all, they probably won't even know anything until I plan out the _grand finale_ for them... and _that_ , my friend, is when we'll finally get them out of the way for good and finish what we started."

* * *

"So I take it you and Gideon are friends now?", Nick asked as they returned to his apartment in Savanna Central.

"Oh of course! He's a changed mammal and I have no grudge against him", Judy smiled with her reply.

The day was well-spent. They wandered around the city with no purpose, chatting and playfully bickering as they tried getting their minds off the real world. The day was beautiful, the sky was almost entirely clear, with the exception of the occasional fluffy cloud rolling by, and the sun warmed the ground with its rays. In fact, despite the the being almost entirely down, one could still feel its rays warming their fur.

Nick seemed to be holding up just fine now, even Judy could tell he was starting to accept what happened and move on. He might even be ready to go back to work tomorrow.

They settled on the sofa side by side as they allowed themselves to lean back after a long day. Without even thinking, Judy slid a little closer to Nick, leaning into him, to which the fox almost jolted back with surpise.

"Oh, sorry", Judy apologized. "I just... I don't know...", she paused, realizing just how much she was blushing, before muttering "sorry" and turning away in embarrassment. She didn't expect a paw to be lowered onto her shoulder, pulling her back up to the fox.

"It's fine, Carrots, I don't mind, you bunnies are the emotional and touchy ones anyhow", he spoke reassuringly, with a small chuckle.

Judy smiled and let herself relax.

After a few minutes, the pair opted to watch a movie before heading off to bed in their respective homes. Grabbing some popcorn and preparing it, they settled back down on the couch before looking through the list of movies on Furflix.

It was only 8:30, so surely they had time to watch something... until a knock could be heard on the door.

Nick growled slightly in annoyance, before getting up and walking to the door. Judy looked on, curious to see who it was. The door was opened, and a hare stood there, a FurEx uniform on him and a package in his paws.

"Delivery for a... Nicholas Wilde?", he spoke, glancing down at the package before looking back at Nick.

"Yeah, that's me", he replied. He would've replied with a witty comment, but he was too caught up wondering where this package came from.

Nonetheless, it all seemed legitimate.

"Do you know who it's from?", he asked cautiously.

The hare shrugged in response, appearing completely disinterested and eager to move on with the night.

"It says 'Benjamin Clawhauser', no idea who it is."

_What would Benji be sending me? He never mentioned anything..._

The forms the hare provided seemed legitimate, so Nick signed off and took the package into the house. It was odd that Clawhauser didn't give him any warning, but he brushed it off as forgetfulness on behalf of the cheetah, or perhaps a last-minute decision to mail something. His concern was slowly fading.

"Isn't it a little late for deliveries?", Judy inquired.

"No, they can deliver them up until 9 on weekdays around here. That's not really concerning. What is odd, however, is what could have Benji sent me?"

The package was small, fitting nicely in his paws. He set it down on the table kitchen, before grabbing a pair of scissors from to open the wrap, revealing a standard beige cardboard box, devoid of any markings.

"Curious", he muttered to himself.

He opened it to find a note inside, which he took out and read.

_You took one of ours - we'll take one of yours. Let's play the game._

"Oh god", he muttered, digging deeper into the box, pulling out a strange contraption which he couldn't identify, until he saw the timer - 10 seconds... 9 seconds...

_Nope, definitely not from Benji._

"Carrots we need to go, NOW", he called out, grabbing the confused rabbit before she could utter a word and sprinting to the door. Just as they managed to open it and run out of the apartment, there was a flash of light just behind them, followed by a ringing in their ears, then silence and darkness.

* * *

**And there you have it! We were now introduced to the main villain of the story, and things have started getting on the personal side for the two parties** **. As time goes on, we'll learn more and more about this new villain and the plot that lies ahead.**

**Anyhow, if you're enjoying the story so far, don't forget to favorite or follow and review if you have any suggestions or comments!**

**Cheers! :)**


	6. What Lies Ahead

"They call themselves 'The Wild'", Chief Bogo stated, speaking to the two officers in the hall as they stood outside the ruins of Nick's apartment. "Judging by the nature of the note sent with the bomb, _and_ that you two were the officers who took down one of their people, we're fairly certain they're behind this attack."

"So they decided to name their gang after me? Didn't know I was _that_ popular", Nick chuckled, a slight smirk on his face.

"Nick, your apartment was just blown up and you still have the nerve to joke around?", Judy asked with shock and a hint of anger in her voice at her partner's current demeanor.

"What, Carrots, and being upset will help the apartment rebuild itself?", the fox replied with a question of his own.

"Hopps, Wilde, enough", the Chief interrupted gruffly. "We need to get you briefed for tomorrow. So - pay attention."

While running away from the explosion, the cop duo was thrown against a wall in the hallway just outside the apartment, knocking them unconscious for a short period of time. At first, the paramedics were fearing head trauma or concussions, but found that both mammals, while dazed, fared really well with no serious injuries sustained, save for some minor bruising.

Nick's apartment, on the other hand, didn't do so well. It was a complete mess. Despite the makeshift bomb being rather small, it was still enough to completely destroy the furniture inside the living room and kitchen, even knocking down a chunk of the wall separating the apartment and the outside world, exposing a precipitous drop to the street below. It was safe to say the goal of the attack wasn't to take down the entire apartment complex, but rather to kill the occupants of the one room. Subsequently, there were no other injuries in the nearby apartments. Furniture could always be replaced, and it was a relief to all that nobody got severely hurt. Nonetheless, there was no way Nick was sleeping there for the next little while. He silently prayed his insurance covered the repair costs.

"The forensic team also got another lead. They apparently found a security camera recording from the Savanna Central area of what may be our coyote from City Hall receiving his weapon. They wanted you to check it out when you're in tomorrow.", Bogo continued.

"TOMORROW?", Nick suddenly exclaimed, startling both Judy and Bogo with his sudden change in tone.

"Sorry about that", he apologized before turning back to the Chief. "What I meant to say, sir, is we're ready to go right now, we don't need to waste another night sitting around. We're good to go tonight, right, Carrots?", he asked his partner expectantly, who simply shook her head with a smirk of her own.

"And have you completely crash? No, not happening", Bogo rejected the proposal gruffly. "I know you're as motivated as ever, but it's the adrenaline rush talking right now. Once that wears off, you're going to have a terrible time. Get some rest, and you'll be good to go tomorrow. _Then_ you could stay up as long as you'd like, I don't care."

The fox nodded, slight disappointment present on his face.

"Do we have anything on the coyote?", Judy inquired, trying to stay on topic.

"Not as much as we'd have hoped.", the buffalo stated bluntly, "Edward Clawson, 35 years of age, ex-military, served as a sniper, which would explain his good aim which you praised so much in your report. Never involved in any crime until the City Hall incident, though he did by the looks of it have some trouble with authority back when he was serving."

"Insubordination and such?", Nick piped up.

"Nothing that severe. There was nothing that would have gotten him suspended from duty, just a few incidents where he slightly deviated from his orders, but it always got the job done. With his record, I suppose they did give him a bit of leeway to do what he wanted, within reason of course. We're also trying to find if he had any ties to the mayor, though that'll have to wait until he wakes up - that poor antelope's still out after the gunshot wound to the chest as far as we know. He should be up soon, however, so you can question him then. Maybe he might give us a few useful clues himself."

"Sounds like that Clawson guy was well on his way to becoming a full-blown anarchist if you ask me", Nick noted.

"And we know for _certain_ Clawson was part of this "Wild" gang?", Judy clarified, nodding towards Nick to acknowledge his comment as well.

"Yes, like I said before, he was one of their own. Though we're not quite sure of their motives just yet. They seem to have dabbled in the occasional weapons and drug deals, though not to the extent as to make it their main trade. It seems as if they're focused on something else. What it is exactly - that's what we want you two to find out, and why they would target the mayor in the process. Find that out and shut them down for good. Clawson was the only member we knew, and with him gone, you'll have to look for more suspects."

"Well, we won't let you down", Judy replied with a smile on her face, standing at attention and performing a salute.

"I know you won't.", the buffalo said with a nod. "Now, you two get some rest - you have a long day ahead."

As Judy and Nick turned to leave the apartment complex, Bogo turned one last time towards them.

"And Wilde"

"Sir?"

"Are you sure you're up for this?"

"Why do you ask?", the fox cocked his head to the side inquisitively.

"You've been through a lot recently, there's no denying it and today only added to your emotional burden. I know you're eager to take up this assignment and I'm _not_ doubting your abilities in any way, don't worry, but think about your safety and that of your partner. Could you really protect her if you're broken?", the Chief stated bluntly, his voice not betraying any potential nervousness he felt.

"I'm not broken Chief. I'm as good as I can be right now. This fox is pretty sturdy, if I may say so myself. Carrots here can confirm since she seems to enjoy using me as her punching bag.", Nick responded with a smirk, motioning to the bunny beside him, who did indeed, roll her eyes before giving him a light punch on the arm.

"I hope so, Wilde.", Bogo nodded, ignoring his snarky comment. "However, at the first sign of trouble, I'm putting you on medical leave to recover, no questions. I don't want to lose a good officer like you to some stupid accident. Cases come and go, but a good officer like yourself has a long and promising career ahead, is that understood?"

"Yes sir", Nick replied, his voice cracking slightly from a sudden wave of nervousness.

Another curt nod from the buffalo indicated they were good to leave, as the duo went down the stairs and proceeded to Judy's apartment.

* * *

The walk wasn't a very long one, with Nick living about 15 minutes away from Judy's apartment, which was only slightly bigger than the one in Pangolin Arms. For her, however, it was enough. She was a bunny after all, so even a small room would be sufficient for her. This time, however, she had a guest. Nick would have to sleep somewhere and she didn't have a couch. For the better or for the worse, they'd have to share the bed.

 _I mean, it's okay for us to share the bed, we're only sleeping... right?_ She thought to herself, yet she could have sworn a small blush had settled in as well. Judy just hoped Nick wouldn't notice it and make another remark of his as they stepped through the door and turned on the lights.

Instead, she heard a sigh to her left as she closed the door, and turned to see her partner completely devoid of the charisma that seemed to fill him just minutes before, wearing a look of exhaustion, not so much physical as it was emotional. Part of her wanted to rejoice for him being comfortable enough around her to reveal whatever is hiding behind his nonchalant mask, but at the same time she knew something was off.

"Hey", she spoke softly, trying not to startle him. "Everything okay?"

The fox simple leaned back against a wall and slowly slid down, sitting back against it. He rubbed his eyes with a paw.

"Yeah... it's just... I've had my apartment blown up just now, I shot someone the other day too, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little taken aback by recent events. I feel like I'm in some badass action movie, minus the badass part."

He looked over to her, trying to form a smile.

"Don't worry Carrots. I agree with Chief buffalo-butt on this one - it's part of the job, and sometimes we have to go to the extreme to protect the city, even if it means shooting someone and almost getting blown up.", he chuckled softly, before resting his head against the wall again with a sign, staring up at the ceiling, his smile fading.

A brief silence followed.

"Yet you don't actually think that, do you?", Judy inquired, glancing over at him.

The fox continued staring up, knowing the bunny beside him saw right through his facade there and then.

"Why does it matter what I think?", he replied blankly, not bothering to turn towards her.

"It matters to _me_ , dumb fox.", the bunny replied with a small smirk, trying to cheer him up. She moved her arm over so her paw rested on top of his. "It'll always matter to me."

She then reached out and hugged him, pulling him close, trying to convey all she felt.

So many emotions were swirling inside her, so many feelings for the fox beside her, but she couldn't put anything into words. Right now, Nick needed her, and she would be there for him. The fox was tough and strong-willed, but Judy knew even he had his moments of fragility, and this was one of them. She would look out for him - after all, that's what partners are for.

Her thought process was interrupted when she felt Nick's arms wrap around her small body, returning the comforting gesture.

"Thanks Judy", he whispered. "And... you know I'd do the same for you as well."

"I know Nick, I know you would. You always have."

A few moments later, it dawned upon them once again they were still sitting on the floor, and a long day awaited. Without bothering to brush their teeth or get ready for sleep, they both got up, staggering to the bed as their tiredness hit them, not even bothering to turn off the lights. Bogo was right, if they were out on an assignment right now, they would simply crash, which is exactly what they did.

The very same moment their bodies hit the bed, they were out - fast asleep, their paws gently touching, providing the comfort and connection between them, assuring both sleeping mammals they were going to help each other through whatever trouble lay ahead.


	7. Another Day, Another Lead (Part 1)

**Quick note: So, the 7th chapter ended being significantly longer than expected, so I opted to split it into 2 smaller chapters to make it easier to read and less intimidating.**

**As always, thanks for the support, and I hope you guys enjoy this one :)**

* * *

Waking up the next day, refreshed as ever, the duo proceeded to the station, ready to take on their new assignment. As expected, Bogo gave them the task of looking through the security footage of Savanna Central to find potential clues about their suspect's origins and the organization he was operating for.

Normally, officers dreaded looking through security recordings in similar "needle in a haystack" cases, where they had to look through camera after camera to find their suspect. It often involved much guesswork to find the right cameras which caught the action, resulting in hours of tedious labor. This time around, they were spared the pain as the forensic team managed to find the time _and_ the specific camera which captured their suspect.

"Thank god we know where to start the recording", Nick sighed in relief as the duo settled in front of a computer. "I would've been done the case before it even started if we had to look through _ALL_ those cameras out there."

"You could say that again", Judy piped up, before logging into the camera records, finding the recording they were looking for.

Scrolling to the intended time, it took them mere seconds to spot their suspect, wearing a similar black trench coat as he did in City Hall. It felt so odd to Nick, seeing him alive. The very next day, he would be dead, having bled out in an ambulance from a gunshot wound to the neck. He discarded that thought aside, trying to avoid spiraling into the negative attitude again and focus on the task at paw.

The suspect strolled into an alley, located between 2 small stores which looked awfully familiar to the duo. Within a few minutes, he left again, this time carrying a bag in his paws, which was, as the forensic team concluded judging by the size and shape, the weapon he used to attack City Hall...

"Carrots, you do realize this place is literally a 5 minute walk across the plaza, right?", Nick remarked, pointing to the two stores on the screen while leaning back in his chair.

"Really?", Judy was surprised, almost taken aback as if this was the ultimate insult. "Did they actually pull off a weapon exchange right under our noses?"

Her partner nodded.

She huffed, looking back at the screen with a pout on her face.

"Ok, so we can find a bunch of other cameras nearby to see if they captured anything else, maybe some clues...", the bunny began, before stopping after seeing the confused look on Nick's face.

"...or we can go check that alley out right now, right?", the fox reminded her. "Don't over-complicate it, Carrots. I always thought being on the actual scene was better than going through recordings. We don't even need to take out a cruiser for this."

Judy bowed her head in mock defeat as her partner stated the obvious option to them, one she completely overlooked.

The two cops got out of their seats, before proceeding to the exit of the precinct, ready to investigate what could be their first lead. Granted, it was only an alley, but in their experience, alleyways could retain quite a few useful clues, mainly because few mammals walked through them. As a result, leftover evidence would often remain largely untouched.

It took them fewer than the predicted 5 minutes to arrive at their destination, largely due to their quick and excited pace, and before they knew it, they were looking at a pair of small department stores, with their alleyway between them.

"Well, this is it!", Nick stated victoriously as they approached the entrance of the alley. "Let's do our thing."

Unfortunately, their search found almost nothing, or rather, no evidence that would be of interest to them. The alley was largely empty, save for a dumpster and some discarded beer bottles, most likely the result of a late-night drinking session of a rather large group of mammals, or a small group of extreme alcoholics. The longer they searched, the more noticeable the droop in Judy's ears became, and Nick's ears seemed to mirror her's. They were about to leave in complete discouragement, having found nothing, until something caught Nick's eye, causing him to stop dead in his tracks.

"Carrots!", he called out to his companion who was already outside the alleyway, her back turned to him.

Judy looked back at Nick, half expecting him to crack some kind of joke or snarky comment, something she was _not_ in the mood to endure.

"Nick, I swear, if you're gonna make a joke...", she began.

"Nononono", the fox interrupted her, waving his paws in the air, before pausing to ensure she was listening to him. "What do you notice about this alley?"

A pause followed as Judy turned around and examined the area around her. Within a minute or two, she returned her gaze to her partner, letting out a sigh.

"Okay _Sherlock Howlmes_ , I give. Tell me how you cracked the case.", she said, raising her paws in defeat.

"Har har, very funny.", Nick replied sarcastically. "Okay, maybe it's just the street smarts speaking. I'll give you a hint: do you see any doors or windows here?"

Judy looked around again, taking note the alley indeed did not have any doors or windows in it, or any openings for that matter. Only solid, red brick walls surrounded them.

"No, I don't."

Nick raised a paw slightly, motioning her to continue.

"Yeah, I don't see any windows and doors.", the rabbit concluded, not knowing what else to add. "Sooo, what of it?"

Nick huffed in frustration.

"Okay Carrots, hint number two: how many walls are surrounding us?"

"Three", Judy replied, again, noting the fact that the alleyway was essentially a dead end - it didn't lead anywhere, with a wall blocking the path roughly 50 meters in.

"Great! You're doing great!", Nick exclaimed encouragingly. "So what does that tell us?"

Silence.

"Come on, Carrots, you can do better than that! Where did your wit go?"

The perplexed look on his partner's face was a clear indication she wasn't catching on to whatever he was trying to tell her. It became evident to Nick that this game wouldn't work, so he opted to bluntly state the facts.

"Okay, what do we know? There are no windows or doors that let you enter _into_ the alley, so there's no way to enter from the sides, right?"

Judy nodded.

"Right", Nick continued, " _and_ there are 3 walls, so we have a dead end."

He lifted 3 fingers to emphasize the fact.

"Which leaves us with only one possible entrance - going in through the plaza, which happens to be..."

"Which happens to be covered by the camera we looked through...", Judy suddenly interrupted, as the realization dawned upon her with a small smile spreading on her lips.

"Bingo!", Nick responded, a smirk now lighting up his face. "There's only one way to enter this alley, which is from the plaza, and if the coyote walked in empty-pawed, and left with the weapon, someone obviously had to be there with him to pass it on."

"...and that means whoever it was should have been caught on that _same_ camera as well as they entered the alley!", the bunny concluded Nick's thought.

"Precisely! Now we just need to find out when that mammal in question entered, and who it was. We just need to look for a similar bag."

Both their faces lit up with smiles.

"It seems as if criminals never learn eh?", Judy remarked. "The traffic cams almost helped us crack the Nighthowler case, and now they help us again with this one..."

"Well, all it takes is a small slip-up on their end, and _that_ could spell disaster.", Nick nodded, clearly speaking from his past experience in the criminal world.

Suddenly, the case didn't seem all that bad...

* * *

When they returned to the precinct just minutes later, it felt as if the whole building suddenly brightened up to reflect their changed moods. They settled in their office with newfound vigor, feeling ready to conquer the world. Logging in again, they proceeded to go through the recordings another time.

"So", Nick began, "I figured my _totally_ non-criminal knowledge could help here. When it comes to dealing with weapon exchanges, most mammals wouldn't leave them out unattended for long periods of time. It would be logical to assume whoever passed on the weapon in the first place entered the alley a relatively short time before the coyote. Am I making sense here?"

Judy nodded. It _did_ make sense. Leaving a weapon lying about would certainly not end well - how would the criminals know the intended mammal received it? Meeting in person was the most logical step. In that case, the seller, or whoever gave the coyote the weapon would have been in the alley by the time Clawson entered.

It didn't take long to rewind the recording and find the second mammal. A mere 5 minutes before the coyote entered the alley, another figure walked in, what looked like a hare, being slightly larger than a rabbit, carrying the very same black bag Clawson was carrying on his way out.

"I think we got him", Judy muttered. "Thank god these cameras have some decent quality - at the very least we can get some details on this guy."

"What did I tell you, Carrots, I'm always right. You should listen to me more often.", Nick stated victoriously, leaning back in his chair and putting his paws over his head, only to slightly flinch as Judy lightly punched his shoulder.

"Well, mister know-it-all, if I didn't know better, I would've thought you were part of this too. You're almost reading their minds", the bunny replied with a playful wink, poking her partner who immediately raised his paws in defeat.

"You got me Officer Hopps. I give up! Bring out the handcuffs.", he replied in mock-panic.

The pair chuckled, basking in the satisfaction of this small victory. Within moments, however, Nick's eyes narrowed and he brought his face closer to the screen.

"Carrots, could you play through the sequence when that hare enters the alley again?"

Judy nodded, rewinding the recording again and playing it through. The hare moved briskly, seeming to keep his eyes on the destination, until he glanced to the side, probably to ensure nobody was following or watching.

"Stop there", Nick's voice was calm and controlled, a sudden contrast to the more joking tone he had just moments before.

Judy hit the pause button, freezing the image, all the mammals on the screen seemingly stuck in time, their suspect still looking to the side, revealing part of his face.

"Okay, now zoom in a little", Nick continued, not taking his eyes off the mammal.

 _What did he see to suddenly get so focused and tense?_ Judy pondered.

Her question was shortly answered, when Nick sighed and leaned back in his chair again.

"Well, look who we have here...", he muttered, his lips forming a small smile.

"Who?", Judy inquired confusedly.

"Ah, you must not have gotten a proper look at our guest yesterday."

Judy was perplexed. What guest? Who visited them? It was then that she realized he must have been referring to the FurEx courier who gave them their lethal package last night.

"Yeah", Nick continued, seeming to read her mind, "there's that ring-like stripe that runs diagonally around his head - I've never seen another hare with that pattern before. Plus his physical features in general are almost identical to the guy we had yesterday - I'm almost certain it's him. I mean, he certainly looked like a legit courier from what I saw, but perhaps he's working for this gang on the side for extra cash..."

His partner nodded, not doubting that statement for even one second. In the past months, Nick had demonstrated quite a talent for noticing and committing to memory the smallest of details, particularly when it came to mammals' faces. His skills rarely let him down, and the entire precinct came to trust him when it came to these matters.

"Nick, do you have any traffic cameras near your apartment?", Judy suddenly asked.

"I do, why?"

"Well, we know the approximate time when he came to your building, so if we can find his vehicle on the traffic cams, we can track him to wherever he came from... just like we did with the wolves in the Nighthowler case, remember?"

Nick's face instantly lit up with excitement.

"Sly bunny, looks like that sharp wit of yours came back", he joked. "Good plan though, let's give it a shot!"

Within the next 30 minutes, they worked at an incredible pace, not only finding the right traffic cam near Nick's apartment complex to mark the suspect, but also tracking the courier's vehicle to its destination - a rundown, single-story house in Happytown, one of the less wealthy areas of the city. This was already setting off red lights.

"Huh, looks like this guy isn't that well-off. I would've thought he'd be paid more as a courier...", Judy noted.

"Yeah, that's a little odd, I figured he'd be able to afford something a little better, unless of course, the FurEx stuff's not his legit job. Maybe the gang work's more than just a part-time thing for him.", Nick agreed. "Hey, but I think we just might be able to make out an address. Let's zoom in again?"

A quick check of the road signs and the house number gave them their answer: 355 Greenmeadow Road, a rather ironic name for a street that was anything but lush and bright. Running the address through the database, they also found a name.

"Robert Gardner, my friend, it seems as if you were a little too careless for your own good.", Nick commented, reading off the file. "Would you look at that, he _did_ work for FurEx, but he was laid off and he's been unemployed for about 8 months now - that would explain why he looked legit last night with his uniform and all and why he can't afford anything better than _that_.", he continued, nodding towards the bungalow on the screen in front of them.

"No criminal record for him either, just like with Clawson. Jeez, these guys seem to hire angels compared to what other gangs go for.", Judy chuckled. "We've got nothing on this guy."

"Well, he certainly wasn't supposed to be delivering packages on behalf of a company he was fired from a while ago, and it makes it even more suspicious that he delivered a _bomb_ , not to mention he used a personal vehicle with no markings for his service. Couriers would at least have a company logo on whatever they drive if they want to follow the laws around here. Also don't forget possession of a weapon that he passed on to Clawson. Even in the event he's not officially part of this gang, I'd say that's still enough evidence to have probable cause and question him, don't you think?"

The rabbit beside him smirked.

"Right as always, slick. Let's go."

It surprised Judy how well Nick was holding up after all he's gone through - having shot a mammal and his apartment blown up. For once, it seemed as if he was genuinely getting better and coming to terms with all that transpired over the past few days, rather than putting on a mask to hide any fears or negative thoughts. As they got into a cruiser, she silently prayed to all that is holy that this would keep up, and that for at least the next few days, there would be nothing to interrupt his recovery. She wanted her partner back.

All she could do was hope for the best, and leave the rest to whatever fate had in stock for them.


	8. Another Day, Another Lead (Part 2)

**The second part of the 7th chapter.**

**The action continues! Hope you guys enjoy it!**

* * *

Roughly 45 minutes of driving later, Judy and Nick parked their cruiser on the driveway of the house-in-question: 355 Greenmeadow Road.

Clearly whoever lived here didn't have the time, or money to maintain it, or both. The grass was overgrown, weeds were sticking out of the cracks in the driveway, and the house itself was in a sorry state: cracked bricks and dirty windows, with shingles missing from the roof. The whole place had a filthy look to it.

They approached the door, with Nick raising a paw to knock.

"ZPD - please open the door!", he called out.

Within moments, they could see a figure approaching through the stained glass on the door, which opened to reveal their courier hare. His fur was a bright beige, with a single, unmistakable "ring" pattern of black fur across his head, just like the one they saw in the recordings. He wore an old blue shirt and sweatpants, the look almost matching the condition of the house.

"Afternoon, officers, how may I help you today?", he stated plainly, a friendly and inviting smile on his face. Judging by his greeting and tone, he somehow hadn't yet recognized the pair from last night.

"Good day Mr. Gardner.", Judy began in an equally friendly tone, as both officers tried to put on the most pleasant demeanor possible. "We're actually here on a case and we have a few questions for you if you're not busy at the moment."

The hare froze momentarily, a look of panic and confusion flashing across his eyes, which he quickly covered up, but not quickly enough for Nick and Judy to miss.

"Uhhhh... sure!", he spoke quickly, bringing himself back to his senses. "Oh man, where are my manners... do come in!"

He let the officers into his house, which was surprisingly neat, despite the obviously worn look of the discolored and peeling white wallpaper and cracked and creaking wooden floors. Nonetheless, it certainly looked bright with natural light and livable, and the furniture was in excellent shape in contrast to the building. They were led into the rather small living room with large windows, where an old TV stood, across from a rather small couch, fitting maybe 2-3 small mammals at most and a small coffee table in front of it. Nick and Judy settled down while Gardner pulled up a chair to sit across from them.

"So, officers, go ahead - shoot. What did you want to know?"

Quite clearly he was playing dumb with them - his voice occasionally quavered in nervousness, something both officers immediately noted. The hare knew something was off, but by the looks of it, he hadn't quite realized what it was just yet.

"Alright, let's begin then", Judy stated, pulling out a notebook and her classic carrot pen. "Where were you last evening?"

"At home", Gardner replied immediately, almost without hesitation.

Nick eyed him suspiciously, trying to get a read on him. This guy was good at lying, maybe even good enough to fool most officers, but not the fox.

"And may I ask what you were doing at home?", Judy continued.

"Why does it matter?", the hare shot back in slight annoyance. "Last time I checked I had the right to have some privacy in my house."

"Understandable, Mr. Gardner, but an officer's home was the target of an attack last night, and we managed to trace a vehicle to your home - the vehicle the attacker used. We have reasons to believe you may have been directly involved.", Nick stated bluntly, getting straight to the point of their questioning.

"And you can prove that how, exactly? Sounds like a bunch of BS to me.", Gardner scoffed, as his tone seemed to change from friendly to aggressive on a whim.

It was an answer they were expecting. As a silent but firm response, Judy reached into her pocket and pulled out a few neatly-folded pieces of paper, which were printouts of some of the traffic cam scenes. Surely enough, the hare's car was visible in all three image, one near Nick's apartment right before the explosion and another one later that night as it approached the courier's house. The last one was a zoomed-in shot of the hare getting into the driver's seat of the car. The timestamps on all three images showed they were all from the same evening.

"And there's more to it as well. The evidence is not limited to these three images.", Judy smiled, realizing she may have just hustled the hare.

Suddenly, there was a flash of recognition in Gardner's eyes as he looked between the bunny and the fox across from him, almost as if he realized what was going on. That was when he committed a critical error.

"Oh no... wait... it _is_ you two. I didn't recognize you at first... I thought you were supposed to be de...", he suddenly cut himself off, realizing he may have spoken too much.

Nonetheless, the duo immediately caught on to his words.

"Hold up there, how did you know _we_ were targeted? We never specified we were the victims... only that an officer's home was attacked.", Nick noted, raising a brow. Judy, who was writing down something in her notebook also looked up expectantly, waiting for the suspect to counter their argument.

The hare simply sighed, bowing his head on defeat. There was no point in hiding anything now.

"Look, you have no idea what we have in store, no idea what you're up against. Arresting me will do _nothing_.", he muttered quietly, just loud enough for the officers to hear.

Out of the corner of his eye, Nick saw Judy release the recording button on her pen, effectively capturing the suspect's confession, adding to their ever-increasing pile of evidence for the case.

"...and we're not assuming it'll all end with your arrest alone. We know there's more to the group than just you. So, how about you come with us and explain what's going on.", Nick offered. "We'll make sure you receive a less harsh sentence if you comply with the investigation."

"Negative, officers, that won't be happening.", was the only reply they got, the hare suddenly turning calm. It was an alarming change in attitude, going from worried to confident in a matter of seconds. Clearly something snapped in their suspect, and it wasn't good.

The pair tensed a little.

"Sir, you are a suspect for a _bombing_ of two law enforcement officers - if you do not come with us on your own we will have to arrest you for not complying with the investigation, given your involvement with the incident." Judy spoke cautiously.

"Not happening either.", Gardner repeated plainly, one paw reaching behind his back. Both Nick and Judy noticed the movement.

"Sir, please keep your paws where we can see them", Judy warned, as she reached for her tranq gun.

 _Dammit, we should have asked Bogo to give us real weapons instead of these peashooters_ , she silently cursed their situation.

The danger here was a potential fight or flight response from the hare. He had nowhere to run right now, so the only thing he could do was to fight back. If their experience taught them anything, the way Gardner was acting right now was an almost certain indication he was about to use a weapon of some kind.

"I'll just add this", Gardner's voice broke through the officers' thoughts, "from what I hear on the news the mayor's still alive in the hospital?"

"What? What does this have to do with anything? ", Nick demanded, though a gut feeling told him something wasn't quite right. He instinctively reached for his own tranq gun, thanking his mind it was still in good enough shape to handle potentially darting someone. Had it been a lethal weapon, he wouldn't have been able to do it. He was feeling better, but not ready yet to do it again.

"Well, he won't be alive for much longer", the hare continued, ignoring Nick's question. "He's a dead mammal already."

A smile crept across Gardner's face as he pulled out a small revolver from behind his back.

"Yes, he's alive for now, but he'll be dead real soon."

"Sir, drop the gun!", Nick yelled out, pulling out his own tranq gun as both him and Judy leveled their sights with Gardner.

"I've said enough, and you won't be getting anything else from me. Good day, officers, and good luck. I've run free for long enough to help the cause."

In a flash of movement, he unexpectedly put the weapon to his head instead of shooting at his guests, and even though both officers managed to fire off a tranquilizing pellet into the target, the serum wasn't quick enough to stop the hare from pulling the trigger. A single, loud bang followed. Gardner dropped the gun, as his lifeless form fell off the chair to the floor below like a marionette without strings. His eyes stared up blankly at the ceiling as blood began to pool under his head.

Judy simply put both paws to her mouth in horror as Nick stood there dumbfounded. This was going to be an interesting one to explain... never before had a suspect been so eager to take his own life like this.

 _Yeah, we need actual guns on the force, not these tranq guns that take half an hour to work - this is getting ridiculous,_ Judy ranted angrily in her mind, glancing down at the weapon in her paws. How many times have they encountered situations when an actual gun would've helped, but their limitation to using tranquilizing pellets put their lives at risk? The incursion at City Hall was one of the few times they've ever heard cops being allowed to use lethal weapons as of late. That needed to change, at least for this case. Too many lives were at risk because of this.

Just then, Judy spotted a phone in the hare's other paw. By the looks of it, he was in the process of using it up until the moment he shot himself. Cautiously approaching the body and prying the phone from his dead paws, she glanced at the screen, thankful it hadn't locked itself just yet. A call had just been ended, the other mysterious number also being from Zootopia. Whoever he was calling was now aware of this incursion, and she suspected it was no coincidence Gardner called this number to let the recipients listen in to the interrogation. Could it be someone from the gang? Quite possibly.

She jotted the number down in her notebook to look it up in the police database later, while putting the phone in an evidence bag. They may have lost another suspect, in a disturbing fashion at that, but at least they may have gotten another clue, so their visit wasn't a total loss.

 _Running free, he's the second suspect to say that..._ Judy pondered, as Gardner's final words played back through her mind again. _It has to mean something... maybe something to do with their plot? God, this is frustrating._

She was about to leave, when she heard what she thought was a whimper. She turned to see Nick still standing there, staring at the corpse laying in a pool of blood, with a pair of blue tranquilizer stains on the hare's neck and face. His expression reminded her of the one he wore after hearing Clawson was killed by his bullet - blank, but with clear pain in his eyes, pain he was struggling to hide, regardless of how good his mask was.

"I was standing so close to him...", he muttered, his voice close to breaking. "I could have reached out and stopped him... I could have..."

His voice broke as he trailed off. He simply continued standing there in silence as Judy walked up beside him, reaching out to rub his arm, trying her best to comfort him. She didn't know what to say, so she desperately hoped the simple yet comforting act would convey everything to him. She couldn't let this break him, not right now.

 _Please, Nick,_ she thought. _Don't let it get to you. Stay strong, not even for me, but most importantly, for your sake..._

A long battle awaited them.


	9. Preparing For A Meeting

Not a single word was uttered since Nick and Judy left Gardner's house. They gathered all the evidence they could find, and their only interaction after his unexpected suicide was calling in the coroner.

They drove in silence, reaching the border of Happytown, crossing into the jungles of the Rainforest District. The silence, however, was a rather normal procedure to them. Despite not having faced many violent crimes, they still had to investigate the occasional fatal accident or homicide. Seeing bodies never got any easier, and they agreed to have some "quiet time" whenever they faced a gruesome crime scene for the first time during each new investigation just to sort their thoughts and calm down a little. Every officer had different ways to deal with the horrors and the stress, and this was theirs. Normally it wouldn't take long for them to go back to their usual bickering.

This time, however, the silence dragged out longer, going from comfortable to tense, especially on Judy's end. Even back in the house, she witnessed just how much Gardner's actions affected Nick. They've seen a few far more violent outcomes in their experience so far and they managed to get over those just fine, so what was the issue now? Judy figured it must have been the events at City Hall still eating away at him, and despite trying to get over it and keep it down, this incident only seemed to reopen partially-healed wounds.

 _Only one way to find out_ , she braced herself to ask the all-important question.

"Hey, Nick?", the bunny broke the silence, waiting to get the fox's attention. A few seconds later, he slowly turned to her. Satisfied that he's all ears, she continued.

"Everything okay?"

Knowing her partner, he'll probably brush it all off as nothing, but it was still worth a try. However, his reply this time surprised her.

"No", he said, a long sigh following his response.

That was all she needed to signal a lane change on the rather empty highway, coming to a stop on the side of the road where they overlooked the vast expanse of the forests, lush green trees as far as the eye could see. None of this beauty mattered though. If Nick couldn't even brush off his pain and had to admit something was wrong, then something was _definitely_ wrong. There was no way she would let him avoid this conversation.

"Okay", Judy began calmly, planning out her plan of action and avoiding pushing him too far. "Tell me everything."

Nick looked at her, a confused expression on his face as if she was speaking a different language altogether.

"What do you mean?"

"Tell me everything that's bothering you right now. You're not normally like this, and to be quite frank, your condition over the past few days has me really worried. You know how much I care for you, and I know you care for me too, so please, for both our sake tell me what's going on."

She finished her rant, realizing she was speaking this whole time on just one breath. She quietly gasped for air, hoping the message came through.

Nick simply bowed his head and sighed again.

"Yeah... you're right... I'm not _fine_. As much as I'd like to think that, I'd be lying if I said I'm the same fox I would normally be..."

At that moment she had a hunch this conversation could take a dark turn, much like the time they spoke after his injury after the first day as partners. Nonetheless, if it made him feel better, he had to let it all out. He's done it before, albeit once, but it was proof enough that he could do it again.

"I don't think there's a logical explanation for it.", he continued, his tone calm for the most part, but still slightly shaky. "Like I said before, I _know_ this job has certain risks, and we have to protect the city at all costs but..."

A pause followed. Nick bowed his head, as if recollecting his thoughts.

"Nick, tell me what you need me to do. I want to help you.", Judy almost pleaded him to hit the figurative nail on the head and tell her what exactly was bothering him.

"Closure", the fox stated simply. His face suddenly turned to an expression of enlightenment, as if he solved the greatest problem of his life. It was the face of a mammal who just saw all the pieces fit together, and knew the answer to everything.

"What do you mean?", Judy inquired.

"Judy, I've taken a life, that coyote's never coming back home, never waking up again. We've had someone commit suicide in front of our eyes for god's sake and I was close enough to intervene and bring him in for questioning. I could have saved him, even if he felt he didn't need to be saved. I know they're criminals but they're still mammals."

Nick sighed, closing his eyes and readying himself to tell his partner what he suddenly realized was the root of the issue.

"I need closure for this case", he continued. "I just want us to find the bastard who's making us do this and put him behind bars. I just want to finish this and never worry about this case again."

"You do realize though, this won't be our last case. We'll have plenty more in our careers, and some may be even worse than this.", Judy reminded him.

"Yes, but there's a first for everything. Other cases my be worse, but I don't think we'll ever have to do anything more extreme than shooting someone. For now, I feel I've experienced the worst this job has to offer and I have to deal with it. Solving the case is the first step to getting over this, and after that I'll figure out how to deal with the rest."

" _We'll_ figure it out, together. You're not in this alone", his partner corrected him, bringing him into a tight hug, trying to reach across the seats.

"Right, and since when have we not gotten through anything? Like Bogo said, it's natural to feel bad, so I'll just have to get over this phase, and what better way is there to get through it than to fix the root of the problem, which in this case is the gang we're hunting for?"

Nick's words made sense. Everyone dealt with such situations differently, and as counterproductive as it seemed, maybe staying on the case was better for Nick after all, both to keep his mind busy and not aimlessly existing like he would on medical leave _and_ for a morale boost by knowing he's helping the city. Judy released him from the hug and smiled at him, overflowing with pride that her partner managed to stay so strong after everything he's gone through. Nick smiled back - a real, genuine smile, the pain in his eyes gone, replaced with gratitude.

Nonetheless, she could have sworn a certain fragility remained, though she hoped it was just her imagination. Still, it did cause a bit of concern for her, whether or not her partner was really holding up as well as he said, or if he was delicately balancing between recovery and another breakdown. She made the mental note to keep track of it in the future, just to ensure Nick was really okay. Perhaps this was something even Nick didn't feel, instead hiding in his subconscious the whole time.

"Thanks for being there for me.", the fox said in an almost whispering tone, breaking her train of thoughts before a smirk spread across his lips. "I'm feeling like a changed mammal already."

The touching moment was suddenly cut short by Nick's ringtone. He quickly picked his phone up, seeing an unknown number on the screen. He didn't quite know who it was, but something just felt... wrong. His gut feeling told him to put it on speaker so both him and Judy could hear everything, doing so before he could even think about it.

"Hello?", he spoke to whoever was on the other end of the line.

"Nicholas Wilde?", the question came out of the blue. This wasn't a voice Nick recognized, which already put him on edge.

_How do they know it's me? Where the hell did they get my number?_

"Y... yes?", he stuttered after overcoming the initial surprise.

"Good", the mammal continued, "my name's not important, we shall introduce ourselves later. What is important, however, is what happened earlier at a certain Robert Gardner's house. You see, we may have different goals, but the three of us have similar interests here. I'd like to speak with you two, in person. The address is Portlands Street, Warehouse 2, one hour from now. Do not bring anyone else with you."

The call ended, leaving both mammals equally confused.

"So, in case you missed it back in the house...", Judy began, breaking the silence. "Gardner called someone just before shooting himself. No one else but the two of us and the receiver of the call know about what happened."

"What are we waiting for then. This could be a pretty important meeting for us.", Nick concluded, before picking up the radio, requesting to speak with Chief Bogo personally.

They spent the next 10 minutes recounting what happened with Gardner and the unusual call. For a few moments there was silence on the other end, while Bogo considered the options.

"Hopps and Wilde, go to the meeting, but exercise caution. If you suspect any foul play leave immediately. I'll also send 2 more officers to go with you. Stop by the precinct to pick them up. We'll ensure they're armed just in case."

"Chief, but...", Judy protested, before being cut off by the buffalo.

"Hopps, that's out of the question. I have confidence in your abilities, but we don't know what could be waiting for you two. Maybe it's just a meeting, but having some backup won't hurt. They'll remain outside and they won't interfere with your discussion."

"Yes sir.", both Judy and Nick replied in unison.

"Good, once that meeting's done, return to the office and write up a full report on what happened with Gardner and what you'll see in the warehouse. I need every detail on this one to find out what this "Wild" gang's up to. Don't try apprehending whoever we meet yet. If this caller's really part of this gang we're looking for, an arrest could scare everyone off into hiding, and we'd be back at square one. I'm sure you've seen plenty of cases that went awry because of that. Let's give them the illusion they've got the upper hand here, officers."

With those words, the radio fell silent.

* * *

The mink by the name of James Black put the phone down, leaning back in his Foxtown office.

The death of Robert Gardner forced him to accelerate his plans, but nonetheless things were still going relatively smoothly. He knew the hare would die before being taken into custody - thankfully, he stayed true to his word. Gardner could have been useful later on, but those assignments weren't the important ones. His main task of delivering the bomb was done, so his death was not for nothing.

He still needed the bunny and the fox officers alive for now, primarily out of curiosity to see what they were capable of, but to also give them a reason to become more and more involved in the case, while he would slowly break them down. First, he'd lure them into situations where their morals and reputation would be questioned, both by themselves and the public, and only when the trust in them was gone and the ZPD completely demoralized with the loss of their best cops, he will kill them both. Hell, he could destroy their public reputation in one go, and he knew exactly how to do it.

Black invited Judy and Nick to meet for a reason. He was going to feed them information, make it seem like they could win this one. Essentially he would play around with them a little more, without exposing any specific next steps of their plans. Their plot to give society the freedom it deserves was no secret, so he could easily give them that without fearing for the organization's safety. In fact, by telling them the big plan, he would make them feel as if they had the upper hand with the "insider's info", when in reality the wheels have already started to turn, and soon enough nothing could be done about it.

With the radioactive ammunition Clawson carried with him into City Hall, the mayor would be dead from the poisoning in a matter of hours at this point, leaving the city's government without a leader. The turmoil will be a lot to handle, and a blow to the ZPD should tear everything apart entirely, as society realizes how much those institutions were keeping them back from discovering their true selves. The city will descend into a beautiful chaos, with the population uniting against the oppression.

"The current state of life is unnatural, mammals shouldn't be living under the iron fist of laws and governments.", the mink muttered to himself. "There should be a 'natural order' to everything. The laws of self-preservation and nature should prevail. An individual's morality will be his law - and everyone will be free at last. No one should tell an individual what to do but themselves their morals, not some corrupt politician or officer of the "law". Only when they're out of the picture will we have peace."

Silently praising himself on his speech, he got out of the chair, leaving the office to find his car. This chat with the ZPD's "finest" was going to be rather interesting.

Soon enough, all mammals will be running free.

"Hey Alan!", he called out to the buff mustang as he passed him in the hall outside his office.

The mustang by the name of Alan Field turned around, his attention focused on the mink.

"Mind ensuring everything's in order with our operations until I'm back? We'll need to plan our next step once I'm done with Hopps and Wilde."

The horse nodded in response.

"Sure thing boss! You're sure you don't need backup by the way? Just in case they _do_ bring friends along?"

The mink simply smirked and quickly pulled out a switchblade hidden in his suit jacket.

"Don't worry buddy, that's all the support I need. They won't be arresting me, it won't make sense for their investigations. Also I'm trusting we won't have to use it however, assuming they keep their promise."

As he left the building, he turned to his friend one last time.

"Remember Alan, I've got firsthand experience with how the ZPD works. We're already miles ahead of them."

* * *

The cop duo's cruiser approached the massive precinct building, as Judy and Nick scanned the area for the two officers they were going to take with them. Soon enough, they spotted them - an arctic wolf and silver vixen waiting patiently by the main entrance.

 _Huh, didn't know we had another fox working here_ , Judy thought to herself. Judging by his partner's expression, he must have been thinking the same thing. They approached the waiting officers, stopping the cruiser right beside them, allowing them to climb inside.

"Hey guys, it's nice to finally meet you again.", the wolf said, a smile on his face, while his partner nodded in support of his statement.

"If I may ask you, you don't happen to work at Precinct 1, no? We haven't really seen you two around before...", Nick inquired.

"Oh right, of course! We should introduce ourselves", the vixen spoke up. "Officer Amanda Hunt here and this is Lieutenant Sam Wolfe, we're from Precinct 4 actually."

"The one headed by Chief Greyson? The one who was Chief Bogo's partner back in the day?", Judy asked, her eyes widening at the mention of Bogo's friend.

"Yup! That's the one! Your precinct had a shortage of officers to help you out, so your chief called up ours and requested for support. The rest is history. The two of us just happen to be of the species that have a great sense of smell, so we might be able to sense if anyone is planning an ambush while you're having your little chat and save your asses.", the wolf concluded humorously.

The four officers collectively chuckled before Judy put the vehicle in motion once again, headed for the city's port.

As they drove, they discussed the plan of action. The two additions seemed to be very friendly, so chatting with them was a pleasure.

"So all the guy said was to meet him in the warehouse? He didn't say what he wanted exactly?", Hunt asked perplexedly.

"Pretty much", Judy replied, keeping her eyes on the road, but turning her head slightly in the vixen's direction. "He just said we have 'similar interests', though quite frankly I don't know what they could even be. Nick and I have a hunch it may be someone from the gang we're hunting for, so in that case I _especially_ can't find how we're similar."

"Judging by what you've told us so far though, these guys seem to have everything planned out, so they'll probably have a good explanation for everything, no matter how ridiculous it may sound.", Wolfe added with a small but nervous smile.

 _It feels as if this organization's trying to pull us into their dealings. First, bombing our apartment, then the incident with Gardner, and now asking us to meet. Sounds like it's getting awfully personal_. Nick pondered. He kept these thoughts to himself, however. He'll wait for concrete facts before jumping to conclusions.

Up ahead they could already see the row of large, grey, box-like warehouses lining the street by Zootopia's main port.

"Okay, Hopps and I will go in to talk with the contact.", Nick turned to the two officers in the back seats as Judy parked the cruiser near their intended warehouse. "We'll assume no harm is planned on their end until proven otherwise. If we need help, we'll call you in. Otherwise, try staying out of sight somewhere near the warehouse. We'll let you know once we're done"

"Sounds good! We'll be out here if you need us", the wolf replied, pointing to an area just off to the side of the main entrance, with a large amount of containers giving Hunt and Wolfe places to hide.

The four officers jumped to the ground from their cruiser, making their way towards the warehouse distinctly marked "#2". The whole time, they failed to notice the small, grey sedan parked near warehouse 3. Inside the vehicle, the mink surveyed the group, before shaking his head in disappointment, exiting the vehicle and making his way towards the 2nd warehouse as well. It seems as if Officers Hopps and Wilde didn't stick to their promise after all - something for which they'll have to pay.


	10. A Villain's Ultimatum

The warehouse was a vast, empty space - clearly unused for some time. There were no containers, no crates, only empty shelves and scaffolding scattered around the massive room, the metallic grey color and artificial lighting giving the space a sense of unforgiving coldness, making both Judy and Nick shiver. The silence, however, was even more unnerving than the emptiness. One would expect this place to be filled with the sounds of machinery and the chatter of workers, but in its current state one could hear a pin drop.

Their mysterious contact was nowhere in sight.

"Wow, how rude - inviting us over and not even being there to greet us.", Nick remarked with a nervous smirk, his voice echoing through the building.

The pair instinctively reached for their tranq guns, both mentally scolding themselves for not requesting actual weapons for such a dangerous task. For all they knew, this could be an ambush and if they've learned anything on this case, the pellets were becoming less and less effective in dangerous situations.

They waited for another 5 minutes with no updates, a tense silence falling between them as they listened for anything alarming. Neither of them wanted to speak and break the tranquility.

Suddenly, a loud creaking could be heard from the far end of the warehouse and a voice echoed through the space.

"Sorry to hold you up, officers. I shouldn't have kept you waiting as the host of this _grand_ event.'", the disembodied voice said brightly with a barely-noticeable French accent, before they saw its source.

A mink entered, wearing a light grey suit and a white shirt under it along with some shades which he removed with his gloved paws and carefully placed in the front pocket of the jacket.

"I figured the two of you already hate the mammal who's putting you through all you've seen recently, so I figured you deserve a face and a name to go with that."

The mink pointed at himself.

"Also, since _so_ many mammals asked me this before upon first meeting me: yes, that's a slight French accent you're hearing and no, I do _not_ remember how to speak French, but that's not a story we're here to discuss in detail.", he spoke with a smile, seeming to be completely oblivious to the scowls on both officers' faces. He stuck out a paw, offering a pawshake.

"James Black - though I'd imagine you'd probably want to call me some more... derogatory names, though the "big boss" of The Wild will also do. A pleasure to finally meet the ZPD's finest.", he introduced himself.

Neither Judy nor Nick shook his paw, which James quickly retracted, not losing his smile.

"Well, your loss. Oh, speaking of losses...", the mink reached into his jacket. "Always keep your promises with me. I thought I explicitly stated _not_ to bring friends - hopefully you'll be more careful next time."

He pulled out a pair of badges, one stained with blood on the corner. Nothing more needed to be said, as both Nick's and Judy's ears fell back with the realization of Officer Wolfe's and Hunt's fates - the 2 officers who were waiting outside.

"Don't worry it wasn't painful for them.", Black continued, his face suddenly stoic as he tossed the items to the officers in front of him. "It's just a pity they had to go because of your carelessness and inability to follow a simple request."

Nick clenched his fists at his sides while Judy's eyes burned with rage. They both struggled to keep calm.

"You do know we could arrest you right now.", she almost seethed.

"I know.", the mink replied, unmoved by the anger in her voice.

"...especially after you essentially sold yourself out as a crime boss...", Nick added, mentally wishing he could wipe that expression off the mink's face.

"First off", Black interrupted with a smirk that seemed oddly similar to Nick's usual expression. "We're not a crime group. That's what they'd have you believe, but that's not the case."

He paused.

"Secondly", he continued, beginning to pace back and forth in front of the pair, "I _do_ know I could be arrested right now. I'm even sure that like the good the cops you are, you secretly recorded my confession as well. The question is, however, _would_ you arrest me, even if you have the chance? That'll be quite the risk you're taking. Don't want to scare the rest of the group off, do you?"

The two officers sighed almost in unison. Never have they been so close yet so far from the perp. They had all the evidence to arrest him, but that would effectively send the rest of the gang into hiding. If that were to happen, it would only make things more difficult for them. All they could do was listen.

"You see, some call us criminals and anarchists, especially those in the law enforcement community, though quite frankly "law" can be applied loosely there. We consider ourselves the liberators of society, and I believe most mammals will come to agree once our work is done.", the mink added, his sly smile returning. Clearly he was enjoying this.

"You, officers, have no idea what you're trying to stop. It's only natural this would happen eventually. I couldn't care less if you recorded everything I say. It doesn't matter in the long run. I doubt you could stop what we've started at this point."

"You're a monster, you know that?", Nick spoke softly, baring his teeth.

"Are you trying to say being an animal's not natural?", the mink retorted. "I expected more from someone who was perfectly fine with doing what was expected of him from society in the past and following his instincts, _shifty_ _fox._ We are all animals deep down inside. It's about time we remember that and let instinct and morality take over and be _free_ , not be governed by some laws created by a small group of mammals that calls itself a "government". Have you seen the corruption and shady dealings within your own institutions? And yet you have the audacity to call _me_ the monster?"

Nick and Judy remained silent as the mink chuckled.

"I'll avoid being the cliche movie villain and won't ask you to join us, because quite frankly, you won't, so I won't waste my breath there.", Black stated as he stopped pacing, bringing his paws together. "So I'll just say this: the bomb we sent was not intended to kill you, but rather, it was a message. You're probably thinking: "But James, what kind of twisted message is that?". It's a simple one - we can quickly dispatch of those who stand against us. So, I know we stand for different things, but the common interest I was referring to on the phone was the will to survive. We all want to live, right? So, if you want to stay alive throughout what is to come, how about the two of you stay out of the way. I can personally guarantee if you stay off the case, no harm will come to you. Deal?"

Once more, the cop duo remained silent, too stunned to come up with a response. Just then Black saw an opportunity to make the situation even more fun for himself.

"Oh by the way, Officer Wilde?"

Nick looks up at him.

"I have to say, you could have prevented Gardiner's death back there. You could have, but you _didn't._ ", he glanced at Nick, a venomous smile on his face as Nick's ears folded back and his eyes clouded with pain. The mink turned to a stunned Judy.

"What", he spoke to her, spreading his arms, "you thought only Wilde could read other mammals that well? It's pretty evident it's getting to him. Speaking of which, send Chief Bogo my regards - I'm sure he'd love to hear from me after all those years. The city will soon be running free."

He turned to leave, making his way to the same place he came from.

Before stepping outside, he turned to them one last time, putting on his shades once more.

"I always know which buttons to push."

With those words, the door slammed shut, leaving the officers alone.

Despite doing his best to keep himself together, it was fairly obvious the last statement had gotten through to Nick, who bowed his head in utter shame.

Judy huffed in frustration. This mink was going to be a tough nut to crack.

She silently prayed his words wouldn't ruin Nick's efforts to get back to his regular self.

* * *

10 minutes have passed since the duo left the depressing interior of the warehouse, only to find an even more agonizing scene in front of them.

Nick and Judy stared at the bodies of Officers Hunt and Wolfe strewn among the containers near the warehouse.

When the duo left the building after their encounter with Black and Nick _finally_ managed to pull himself back together, they rushed over to the spot where their backup would be waiting. There was still hope they may be alive, but judging by the mink's tone and word choice, it was wishful thinking. They rounded the stacked containers, dreading what they'll see on the other side.

The vixen had a stab wound to the side of her head, while the arctic wolf had his throat slit, all the blood from the wound soaking his uniform and pooling on the ground. The expressions on the officers' faces indicated death came unexpectedly. They were caught off-guard.

Little by little other ZPD members arrived, including Chief Bogo and Chief Greyson of Precinct 4, from which the dead officers came to help.

"I'm sorry Chief", Judy began, addressing Greyson, "it's our fault they're dead, we shouldn't have..."

"Nonsense, Officer Hopps, you couldn't have known. Their deaths are on my paws - they were my officers and I sent them in.", Greyson interrupted, his voice calm and controlled, contrasting Bogo's usual gruffness.

As the wolf left to survey the murder scene, they were approached by Bogo.

"I can see that meeting went well.", he spoke, a hint of sarcasm in his voice as he looked at Nick, who still looked a little shaken by the mink's earlier remark.

"Yeah, the guy hit a sore spot with Nick.", Judy sighed.

"I'll get over it. Give me a few minutes.", the fox spoke, his voice monotonous. "I won't let him get to me - not this time. He's trying to break me down."

He excused himself and walked off to the side to calm down a little more, leaving Bogo and Judy with concerned looks.

"Do we have a name at least?", the buffalo inquired, turning back to the smaller officer.

"Yes, a mink by the name of James Black. He sent you his regards by the way, said you'd appreciate hearing from him after a few years.", the bunny replied. "Did you know him?"

Now it was Bogo's turn to turn pale. He did not expect this turn of events.

"Yes, Officer Hopps, I have. In fact, I worked with him before."

"What?!", Judy exclaimed. "How?"

The Chief ignored her tone, being completely lost in thought.

"He was... part of the ZPD before. One of the best investigators around. Very bright guy. He'd give Wilde a lot of competition with his slyness. Though he went MIA on a case 8 years ago. Haven't heard from him since...", Bogo paused, a hint of pain in his eyes at the memory. "Until now, that is."

Whatever terms the mink left the ZPD on, his exit clearly wasn't pretty if Bogo's expression told her anything.

"Don't worry Chief, we'll figure this out.", Judy reassured him, before heading off to check up on Nick.

Coming up to her partner, she put a paw on his arm and rubbed it.

"Nick, you sure you're alright?", she asked softly.

"Yeah, I'm fine.", the fox turned to her with an attempted smile. "Just needed to convince myself the bastard was blaming me on purpose, just to get to me. Don't worry, I'm good now."

A short pause followed, during which Judy simply hugged Nick, trying to ease the tension her partner was feeling.

"So, any news from Bogo?", Nick asked as they broke the hug.

"Yeah, he said the mink was on the ZPD before. He seemed like a nice guy until something went wrong."

"Heh, a good cop gone bad. Sounds like a fun one to solve. He'll definitely know all the ins and outs of how we work then.", the fox chuckled.

Suddenly, Judy had an idea.

"Nick, can we call the number that called you earlier?"

"Why? That doesn't exactly sounds like your greatest idea, Carrots.", Nick asked, slightly confused.

"I want to see if it's legitimate. It's risky, but we should try it.", the bunny explained. "Also if that's the case, maybe we can somehow trace it in the future if he calls again and know his location."

"Something tells me he probably thought that through, Carrots", her partner replied.

"It's worth a shot."

Nick shrugged and pulled out his phone. He scrolled through the menus until he found the number in his call log and dialed it. An automated message was quick to inform them the number was disconnected and did not belong to anyone.

"Great", Judy sighed in frustration. "So I'm assuming he'll probably be using a number only once whenever he calls us... _if_ he calls us again for whatever reason. Then he'll disconnect it so we can't call back or trace it. Smart move."

"Well, he was part of the police once, so he knows better than many criminals how to avoid surveillance.", Nick reminded her. "Come on, let's get back to the station. I wanna get those reports done early and head home."

It's been an incredibly tiring day so far, and Judy had to agree with Nick - she wanted to be free from this as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, Bogo simply stood there, as the memories of what was perhaps the most controversial day of his career flooded back. He didn't want to remember it, but he couldn't help it.

He didn't lie to Judy with what he told her about Black, but there was much more to the story than he was willing to tell.

* * *

**And that's a wrap! Thanks for reading through this chapter, I hope you enjoyed it :)**

**For the next chapter, we'll be going back in time again to the day Bogo was referring to in the end and get a bit more info about his and Black's past. I'm pretty excited to share that one with you guys, so stay tuned!**

**As always, thanks as well for all the follows, reviews and views in general. It's all very much appreciated!**

**Also at this point we're all caught up with what I have on FF.net, so from now on I'll be updating the story on both sites in parallel as I add new chapters. Stay tuned!**


	11. Hidden Truth

**So for this chapter, we'll go back in time into Bogo and Black's past to the very day Bogo was referring to at the end of the previous chapter.**

**There's a fair amount of content I wanted to cover in this one, so hopefully it'll be clear enough to keep track as you read it.**

**As always, enjoy! :)**

* * *

_November 4th, 2008 - 8 years prior to the events of the story_

"Major Bogo. I'm sorry for constantly prodding the subject over the past 4 months, but we need to be absolutely certain, one last time.", the lion who was the Chief of the ZPD spoke to the buffalo officer in the interrogation room.

"We have no doubts your account of the events is truthful, we all trust you. We just need to make sure you remember as much as you can from that day since you're the only witness we can rely on.", the Chief sighed before asking the dreaded question for the thousandth time. "From what you remember, did you see where James Black was taken, and by whom? Was he _kidnapped_ from the crime scene?"

Bogo hesitated momentarily. The Chief of Precinct 1, a lion by the name of Alex Manes looked at him directly in the eye. He wasn't threatening him, however, he was trying to ensure the Major remembered everything from that fateful day. He knew the buffalo had lost a close friend, and he didn't want to push the subject more than he had to. This would be the last time they would ask him this question.

After a moment of hesitation, Bogo spoke.

"Chief Manes, I'm absolutely certain of what I saw, and that is that I saw _nothing_ of what happened to him. By the time I got there, he was already gone - the blood was the only thing I saw. I honestly can't tell you more, there's nothing else I can remember."

The lion sighed, bowing his head.

"Well, Major Bogo, in that case we've done all we can. We've been intensely searching for him for the past 4 months and gotten nowhere and we still have no leads to go on. I'm sorry. As unfortunate as it is, our resources at the ZPD are limited. If we get a lead in the future, we'll take it, but for now we'll have to wave off the search efforts and work on other cases."

Bogo simply nodded, trying to keep all the guilt out of his voice.

"I understand Chief. Just give me some time to let all this settle in."

"Don't worry Major. Take all the time you need. I know it's a tough loss and it's been difficult for all of us. At this point we just have to let him go for the sake of our future operations. You're dismissed." Manes replied with a tone of understanding, no hint of anger or frustration in his voice. Clearly the old lion had gone through similar situations himself.

The buffalo saluted his superior and dismissed himself from the interrogation room, thankful to finally be out of that damned, bleak space.

Even after all these months, he still felt guilty and wrong. He was questioned several times on the events, each time the investigators hoping something may jar his memory and help him remember more details, but time after time his response was the same, and he knew it wasn't truthful despite convincing them otherwise.

Bogo knew it was his duty to report what he actually saw and he was ashamed for not stepping up to tell the honest truth. Yet, James Black was one of his closest friends and despite the horrible things the mink had done that day, he still couldn't get himself to recount the events. He just couldn't bring himself to do it.

* * *

_4 months earlier_

The cruiser rolled down the streets, the 4 mammals inside busy chatting away the ride, preparing for whatever was waiting for them at their destination. All they knew was that a body was discovered in a courtyard of a particularly shady part of town, with no witnesses and no cameras in the area to catch any of the action. It was their job to find any potential clues. The neighborhood was dangerous to such an extent that the Chief even requested the officers carry lethal weapons with them for self-defense, in case they run into a gang or any other hostile and violent crime groups, which happened fairly often at the time.

Bogo drove the vehicle, with Black in the passenger seat and two mammals in the back - Officer Fischer, a grey otter and Officer Woolston, a ram, both getting ready to deal with their very first homicide case. The two mammals were partners on the force, while Black was the investigator for this case. Bogo was without his partner, Greyson, for the day, so Chief Manes opted to let the buffalo work with the 3 mammals on the case that afternoon. Major Greyson himself was getting ready to be transferred to Precinct 4 for a potential promotion, thus he couldn't be with the group for the day.

Bogo, Black and Greyson had become good friends over the past years, despite the buffalo and wolf being partners as field officers and the mink being in a completely different department. Nonetheless, they seemed to get along almost instantly when they first met, spending much of their free time on and off the job as the trio, chatting away the hours and occasionally pulling a prank or two in the precinct. It was a pity Greyson was leaving their precinct, but it was tough to deny that the potential of being promoted to a Chief was a once in a lifetime opportunity, which everyone encouraged the grey wolf to take.

In the end, this brought them to where they were now.

"Hey buddy, you seem a little quiet today. What's up?", Bogo addressed the mink sitting next to him. Normally, James would be the talkative one of the group, always having a joke to crack or a story to tell. Today, however, he seemed uncharacteristically nervous and kept to himself.

"Oh it's nothing. Don't worry about it.", Black brushed it off before a small smirk spread across his face as he turned to Bogo. "Still more upbeat than you on your average day, big guy."

The two officers in the front seats chuckled. The mink did have a point, Bogo was the more serious one of their trio of close friends.

"Though I have to say...", the mink continued. "You know how sometimes you just get a bad feeling about a new case? Like something's off or shit will just go down? Yeah, that probably sums it up right."

"Oh don't worry", Fischer piped up from the back seats. "We all have those days. Just gotta get through it ya know?"

Black nodded and continued staring off into the distance, as if deep in thought.

Bogo was a little on edge, however, not letting this incident slip. Over the past months, the mink had gotten a little distant, but never quite lost his usual self. He still chatted a lot, cracked plenty of jokes, but something just wasn't the same. He began to call into question the ZPD's methods, sometimes even arguing that City Hall wasn't going about things properly, even questing why it exists at times, saying life might be better without it after all, albeit usually in a more joking tone.

Despite these occasional episodes, the precinct still had plenty of respect for him. Black was a great mammal overall, and when it came to cases, nobody could deny he got the job done, even though as of late he began to deviate from orders. To most, it simply seemed like a classic case of an officer wanting a promotion to a position of higher authority. The behavior seemed to be characteristic of that, and rising up the ranks usually gave the officers more freedom to do things _their_ way. With the mink's work ethic, a promotion wasn't far off at all, so he'd be more content with his work soon enough.

The cruiser finally stopped near an apartment complex behind which lay the courtyard where the crime had taken place. The animals walked through a small alley, careful to check for any dangers on the street before coming up on a large, concrete space. It was tough to call it a courtyard, having only a few benches and tables, with almost no trees or plants to brighten up the area. Nonetheless, it was well-lit by the afternoon sunlight, allowing them to get a proper view of the scene.

A moose lay on his side among the cracked concrete and sterile surroundings, a pool of blood contrasting the bleak, grey color. They approached him, careful not disturb the scene, trying to find his ID. The body search quickly turned up his wallet, giving them a name they knew rather well: Zachary Antle. _Deputy Chief_ Zachary Antle.

He was essentially the heart of Precinct 1, representing all the best values of the ZPD, not mention his charisma. In fact, it was already known he would become the next Chief of the precinct after Chief Manes retired within the next few years - something everyone was looking forward to. Alas, it was not meant to be, as the moose lay there in his civilian clothes - a casual green dress shirt and black jeans in a pool of his own blood, with several stab wounds to his chest and neck. Clearly his death wasn't a pretty one and certainly not the right way to go for a hero.

The mammals stepped back, pondering the next steps.

"Major, mind sealing off the area?", Black addressed Bogo, "I'll work with Officers Fischer and Woolston, show them the ropes here. From what I understand this is your first real homicide?"

The pair nodded.

"Well, you're in luck today fellas. I'll give you a bit of a rundown on how things work here. Okay, so first things first, we're going to need..."

Their voices faded into the background as Bogo stepped back into the alley to grab some yellow tape from the cruiser. Black was known to enjoy showing rookie cops how to deal with various crime scenes. Being an investigator, the mink had plenty of experience over the past few years, and loved sharing it with others. To add to that, everyone could agree he was a great teacher.

As Bogo was about to reach the cruiser he suddenly heard the distinct sounds of gunshots, albeit silenced ones. He turned on his heels and ran to the scene, an arm on his pistol. His eyes widened at the sight in front of him as he entered the courtyard once more.

Woolston lay face first on the concrete, blood pooling at his head. Fischer was just off to the side, writhing in pain on the ground from a gunshot wound to his stomach. James Black stood over the two, a silenced pistol in paws, evidently not a standard-issue police weapon. Where he managed to get it from was beyond the buffalo.

Fischer slowly turned his head towards Bogo, pain and fear in his eyes. He managed to mouth "run" to the buffalo, before the mink raised his gun paw again and fired off two shots into the otter's head. The officer was killed instantly, blood splattering across the concrete, his eyes blank and mouth slightly open.

Bogo was at a loss for words and actions. One of his closest friends was standing in front of him, having murdered 2 fellow ZPD officers in cold blood.

"James, what the _hell_ are you doing?!", he finally managed to say, his tone a mix of anger, confusion and pain.

In response, Black aimed his weapon at his friend, tears starting to pool in his eyes.

"I'm... I'm sorry Bogo", he stammered, trying to keep his voice even. "I started on this path and I need to finish this. I've come to learn the truth about everything over the past months, the ZPD, City Hall, everyone who governs us. Our world is fucked up and I need to fix it - this is my first step to doing so. Please... please forgive me."

Bogo was shocked upon hearing those words. He looked down to the 2 dead officers on the ground and back at the mink.

"Fixing it? You call _THIS_ fixing it?"

"He knew...", James continued, pointing at the body of Deputy Chief Antle. "He suspected something, and I couldn't risk him finding out the whole plot. It's too early to be exposed like this. I had to do what was necessary. It's all for the greater good. It's all for freedom."

Instinctively, the buffalo pulled his weapon out. Black immediately pressed his trigger down, only to have the gun click. It was jammed.

Bogo kept his weapon up and trained at his friend.

"James, surrender and come in. Please, we don't have to do this. You're my friend, I don't want to shoot you."

The mink holstered his weapon, his face turning deadly calm as he pulled out a small blade.

"I'm sorry Bogo, but the only way I'll be coming back is in a casket. You're not taking me alive. I can't expect you to come with me, you're too committed to the ZPD and close-minded to see the big picture. There's no way in hell we'll ever be able to live a complete life as long as these bastards sit at the top. You don't know what I've learned, what I've seen..."

As Black spoke, he made an incision in his arm, allowing the blood to drip down onto the concrete below. Even though no words were spoken to explain his actions, it all made sense to Bogo. Black was going to make a run for it, leaving a bit of his blood at the crime scene, making it seem as if there was a struggle and he was abducted. That was unless Bogo stopped him.

With the mink's knowledge of all the methods used by the ZPD to search for suspects, if he were to escape right now and go into hiding, finding him again would become a _very_ difficult task. He knew how to get away from them.

Despite this, the buffalo simply stood there. He realized he didn't necessarily have to kill the mink. He could simply shoot him in the leg, or wound him somehow and prevent him from escaping, but he couldn't bring himself to even do that to his friend. His gun hang shook as he struggled to keep his aim. Suddenly, Black took off, sprinting into a nearby alleyway across from the one Bogo was standing in, before disappearing from sight, keeping his injured arm pressed against his uniform to prevent a trail of blood from forming.

It was over.

Bogo felt blank as he lowered his weapon, still staring at the spot where his friend stood just moments before. He barely managed to find the energy to return to the cruiser and call in support. Within hours, he was in an interrogation room with Chief Manes himself.

He could tell them the truth, tell them what Black did. His ethical side screamed at him to do it. All it took was the truth and the ZPD would try to hunt James Black down and bring him to justice, no matter how difficult it was. There was, however, one thing that stopped him. Hearing the mink's response, Bogo knew he would fight to the death. He'd rather die than be taken back into custody. He wouldn't be coming back alive and that prospect pained him.

The James Black he knew may have been long gone, but fundamentally, he was still his friend, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't muster up the energy to tell them the whole story.

As a result, when the initial forensic tests came in revealing traces of Black's blood on the concrete and no camera footage and no witnesses to capture what happened, the main suspicion was an attack on the officers and the abduction of the mink investigator while the buffalo was away at the cruiser's parking spot. Bogo hesitantly agreed to it, feeling the guilt eat away at him. The buffalo would state that by the time he arrived, the scene was empty and Black was gone. On the outside, he seemed calm and confident in his response, convincing the investigators. On the inside, however, he was torn between doing his duty and saving his friend's life, even though the friend he knew was overshadowed by whatever monster James Black had now become.

Weeks passed, and no word was heard from the mink. He even tried calling him several times, but nobody picked up. Over time, the precinct started losing hope. Nobody could find him, as if he disappeared into thin air.

* * *

_Present day_

Bogo stood outside the warehouse, watching Judy and Nick head back to the cruiser.

For 8 years, one of his closest friends was missing, even presumed dead by most. Today, it seems he finally turned up again, only this time, the buffalo finally understood, after all these years what the mink was doing, and the terrible plot Deputy Chief Antle was on the brink of uncovering, only to be silenced before the truth could get out into the world.

He was not looking forward to dealing with this case.


	12. Desperation

**And so the story continues...**

**Our heroes are starting to get desperate for leads and their attempts start to become more and more absurd. Will luck be on their side and give them a new lead? Time to find out...**

**Cheesy intros aside, this was a fairly interesting and tough chapter to write, in terms of making it make sense if you will. I did my best to make it understandable and make Nick and Judy seem more and more desperate with their ideas to get new leads, though let me know how it went!**

**As always, enjoy!**

* * *

"Nick?", Judy glanced at her partner, trying to get a feel for his emotional state behind his stoic mask.

"Hm?"

"What Black said in there... don't listen to him. He's trying to tear you down. Don't give him that satisfaction... please... I don't want to lose you."

Nick turned his chair to face her with a sigh.

"It's... fine. Like I said, I'm better now."

An awkward silence ensued before the fox decided to change the topic.

"I've never seen a criminal reveal himself that early in the case and boast so openly about it to us. Even in my previous career choice I've never seen anything like it. Most would try to stay out of sight for as long as possible.", he pointed out. "We have his identity and everything! Either he's very naive, or he knows something we don't and is very good at hiding."

Judy chuckled at the fact that this gang stumped even a master ex-con mammal.

"It's probably the latter. He's definitely not a dumb mammal from what we've seen.", she replied.

By now they were back in the precinct, toiling on the report of the day's events. There was a lot to write, not a single detail was to be missed. Their encounter with Gardner in his house that ended with the hare's suicide and their chat with Black seemed to hold a variety of different clues to the case - there was indeed a lot of information given to them and yet...

"Well then, Carrots", Nick began as he finished reading over the draft of their report. "You know what I realized?"

"What would that be?", Judy inquired beside him. She was rather proud of her work and certainly hoped the fox was about to praise it.

"I'm actually gonna correct myself on my previous statement. It seems like our guys told us a lot, but we... uhhhh... actually have a whole lotta nothing here. Pretty ironic, no?", her partner stated bluntly, not taking his eyes off the printouts he was holding.

The bunny's ears drooped and her eyes grew wide with shock.

"What do you mean?"

"Well", Nick began, scratching behind his ears, "I'd like to point out there's not much here that we don't already know. I know the tactic Black used - feed the other side just enough information to make them think they can win, but leave out the key details. Pretty popular among criminals. Reading over this they haven't actually given us anything new."

The best word to describe the reaction of his partner would be: defeated. They had worked so long to get where they are and yet they had nothing useful on the case.

"Let's see now.", the fox continued. "What do we know?"

"Well, we know the mayor's going to die somehow. How about that? I mean, we were certain he was going to survive the shooting earlier."

"We're all gonna die eventually, Carrots, hate to break it to you.", Nick replied rhetorically. "You see, for all we know that's speculation. We don't even know _if_ he's going to die anytime soon, and if he is, do we have enough leads to prevent it? Maybe he's just bluffing and trying to scare us. Where's our evidence for that? I'm not saying we shouldn't be careful, but all we have are words. Criminals are known to bluff."

Judy shook her head at the realization.

"Okay", she responded as she continued scanning over the report. "How about their plot? At least we know what their final goal is."

"They're glorified anarchists, yes. _However_ , we just know their motives. Don't get me wrong, it's something, but don't you feel he explained it so vaguely that we can't even guess what, when and where their next move will be? For all we know, they could strike anywhere. Sure, we recorded his confession on that carrot pen of yours, but even he knew we'd do that. That means he was careful with his words and wouldn't let anything slip. He's smarter than that. To be fair, the recording means nothing unless we have him in court, and to do that we need to catch him first and for _that_ we'll need to know about his whereabouts."

"Nick, what are you trying to say? Fine, I get that we still don't have much - just get to the point.", Judy snapped, tired of his sarcasm.

"What I'm saying is - we need more evidence. Sure, we didn't necessarily waste time today, but we still easily lost a day and got almost nothing accomplished with the exception of meeting a few members of the gang. I know it's self-explanatory, but sometimes it's worth the reminder to work faster. This was a wake-up call for us."

"Easy for you to say. So what are you proposing?", Judy scoffed in return.

"Well, I was actually thinking back to what you said at the warehouse, about trying to track Black's phone calls... maybe it's worth a shot. It's the best lead we have so far. I'll be honest here, I'm out of options myself. Our best bet may be to try every possible idea we come up with and hope for the best. If it doesn't work, we move on to something different until something comes through. These guys don't seem to leave much behind."

Judy simply nodded and hopped off the chair as the two mammals proceeded to the tech office of the precinct. Upon entering, they found the space to be largely empty, with the exception of a badger and a llama chatting away at a desk. By the look of the screensaver on the monitor and the cups of coffee each mammal held, they clearly weren't busy.

"Hey there Rob!", Nick announced, calling to the badger who turned to face the duo.

"Oh hey there guys! Nice to see you again. Fancy a chat?", the mammal replied with a smile.

"If you consider an almost impossible case a valid conversation, then sure.", the fox replied with a chuckle, before turning to the llama.

"I haven't seen you here around actually. You are...?"

"Oh, name's Matt. Matt Wools. I'm new here which probably explains why you guys haven't seen me before.", the llama replied with a grin of his own.

"Well, what's the big question you guys want to answer? Shoot!", Rob piped up.

"Well, let's just say we've been getting calls from a certain suspect, but our suspicion is he's changing numbers after every call so we can't trace the number back.", Judy explained.

"Ok, sounds reasonable. Go on?", the llama technician mused.

"So I was thinking you guys might still be able to try tracking a number down? We have it saved on Nick's phone. After that we'll have another question."

The techs nodded, glancing over at Nick's screen as he showed him the number on his phone. A quick check in the database lead them nowhere, as expected. The number didn't seem to belong to anyone and no previous owners could be traced.

"Well, this is actually a pretty typical case we have here.", the badger announced as his partner nodded in approval. "Criminals with more money on their paws can afford to purchase an app of sorts which effectively allows them to use temporary numbers for their dealings and remain off the grid. Since there are still so many unused phone numbers as the math would show, they can make use of those for a one-time call like we have here. These apps are illegal to be fair, so you won't find them in any app stores. That being said for a good sum of money you could find them on the online black market. They take a fair amount of time and skill to make, definitely not a job for your average coder. It's some very exclusive material so-to-speak."

"Maybe you could install some tracking bugs on our phones and trace any calls that this guy may make to our phones?", Judy added, her voice filled with hope as her ears perked up.

Matt sighed.

"Well, I wouldn't get my hopes up too much", he admitted, causing Judy's ears to droop once more. "With the amount of money the buyer invests into these apps, they generally do a fine job at concealing the caller's location as well, or they'll point to a random and completely illogical spot anywhere on the globe. It's just an added feature almost all of those apps have. I mean, we can certainly _try_ to do something, but like I said, don't get your hopes up too much. These apps are fairly complex and _very_ tough to crack."

"Well, better than nothing, right?", Nick gave them a small smile.

Suddenly, Bogo stuck his head into the office causing all four mammals to jump.

"Oh, Chief? You're back early", Nick smirked after recovering from the initial surprise.

"Not the time, Wilde.", the buffalo's voice was filled with concern. "I need you two in my office right now."

The duo nodded, handing over their phones to the techs to have the call-tracking bugs installed while they proceeded to the office.

"What do you think it is this time? Did they find something?", Judy pondered aloud, to which Nick simply shrugged.

His smugness was gone again, replaced by a look of worry, completely disconnected from reality. It seemed as if he was still coping with the events of the past few days, despite claiming to be feeling much better. Judy couldn't blame him - killing a mammal and having your apartment blown up would make anyone a walking mess. It was surprising how relatively stoic Nick was when faced with all this all while working on an intense and frustrating case, and the notion certainly concerned her. Despite his tough exterior, she knew he had feelings as well. One could only assume what kind of battle he was fighting beyond those emotional barriers.

Her heart clenched at the very thought, with a slight fuzziness as she realized just how much she cared for him.

_Maybe I should tell him how I'm feeling_ , she thought to herself. _Maybe that could jolt him out of the state and bring his spirits up. He needs support and lots of it._

She mentally promised herself she'd take him somewhere when the day was done, just to get his mind off this.

She simply slid her paw over his, trying to grasp his larger paw in hers. He gently squeezed it, but apart from that his reaction was simply nonexistent. No looks of surprise, no witty remarks. Nothing.

Nick's mind was indeed a mess. Part of him wanted to just turn and leave everything behind. So much had happened over the past few days that he was surprised he hadn't broken down - _yet_. He knew Judy would support him through anything, but he still couldn't get himself to lower his walls as much as he wanted to. It was the instinct of self-preservation that he developed over the years. In the streets, mammals could fake their caring nature to take advantage of others and he experienced that first hand many times over. After a few stupid mistakes, coupled with the childhood motto of "never letting anyone see they'd gotten to you", he never lowered those walls out of the fear he'd be hurt. He realized his partner was not like those other mammals and he could trust her, but his subconscious was still set on concealing his feelings. He'd have to fight that but now was not the time.

Then, there was also the case itself. It wasn't just any other regular investigation. It felt... different. In their time on the force, the cases would be very impersonal - they find a crime scene, they investigate it, they gather clues and evidence and catch the perp. Even the Night Howler case didn't quite feel like this one. This time, it somehow felt more _personal_ , as if it wasn't just an investigation of a gang. It felt as if Black was toying with them, not for a particular motive, but just for fun. It felt as if he had a personal vendetta against them. The prospect worried him, as he had no clue just how far the mink was willing to go with that.

Both Judy and Nick were jolted from their thoughts when they nearly walked into a door- the very one of Chief Bogo's office. They knocked and entered.

Bogo motioned them to take a seat across from him at his desk.

"Right", the buffalo began as Nick and Judy settled in. "So I've got some good news and some... okay news."

"Always start with the bad news.", the fox spoke up.

The Chief simply glanced at him and sighed before bowing his head.

"Well, the bad news is the mayor's dead."

The officers' eyes widened at the news.

_"He won't be alive for much longer. He's a dead mammal already"_ , Gardner's last words replayed in their minds as they realized the hare wasn't lying or scaring them. He knew something they did not. This was no bluff, despite what Nick thought just minutes ago.

"Wait, but you said he was stable earlier?", he inquired, trying to solve the mystery for himself.

"In theory, yes. The wound itself was healing nicely and while being serious, it was far from being immediately life-threatening. That being said, the ammunition had a strong radioactive signature as we later found out."

"Why didn't you tell anyone?", Judy asked in shock.

"Because the problem didn't come up until his condition spontaneously worsened. Don't ask me about specific medial reasons. I'm no doctor so I don't know what exactly happened. Maybe they knew about it but thought they had the poisoning under control until things went down, or maybe they missed it somehow. I'm not the right mammal to ask.", the buffalo shrugged.

"The bottom line is, officers, the city's vulnerable. We've just lost one of the best mayors in decades and the city will be morally down for the next little while. Things will be chaotic in City Hall and most likely here as well as we figure out what to do. I don't know this organization's motives, though I'm assuming you two wrote down in your report as to what they're planning exactly after your chat with James Black. Regardless, they'll probably strike soon while the iron's hot. They'll try to kick us while we're down and we have to be ready, or better yet, stop them before they get the chance."

The officers nodded.

"As for the okay news, City Hall has allowed the ZPD to carry lethal weapons at all times. The past few days have _especially_ shown the tranq guns are not enough anymore, not with these guys. In the past it was sufficient but times change it seems. From now on you'll be armed when on patrols _and_ investigating. To some it may be a relief but I'd imagine not everyone will be pleased. We have to make the most of what we have."

A short pause followed as the news sunk in with the officers.

"Yeah, I think we have our paws full now", Judy sighed sadly as she looked over to her partner, who looked equally upset by the overwhelming news.

"Good, time is of the essence officers, let's get a move on it, and give me that report if you're done."

The fox and the bunny hurried out off the office, briefly stopping at the tech office to pick their phones up, now having tracking bugs installed to try tracing any calls Black could make in the future.

"Tech startups!", Nick suddenly exclaimed as they approached their respective spots in their office.

"Huh?", Judy gave him a look of utter confusion at the random-sounding revelation.

"We could look at tech startups.", her partner clarified. "This could be a longshot but bear with me. From what the techies told us, those apps seem to be quite complicated to make, so I'd assume making one for fun at home would be a difficult task. Obviously you'd need some kind of funding and resources for it. A large company won't make these kinds of apps to avoid attracting attention, right? But what if there's a small startup in Zootopia that makes these programs? A company small enough not to attract any attention as is, but it still has more funding than a lone-wolf programmer _and_ be present on the black market while making a name for itself there. For all we know they could have some info that leads to Black if he purchased the app from them."

"Nick, do you realize this company could be anywhere in the _world_ , right?", the bunny responded, crossing her arms, her face stoic. "This is absurd and you know it."

"Sure, but if there's anything I could assume, is that criminals don't want _generic_ tools. They sometimes need tools _customized_ for their own use. What's not to say Black and his organization had an app designed specifically for _their_ needs. Custom things are always more expensive so the company that makes them gets more money, while the customer gets more functionality, and you could tell the guys we're dealing with aren't just some average gang. In that case, the easiest thing to do would be to hire someone local, since meeting with them and keeping in touch would be easier, especially since you could meet face to face, and listening in to that kind of conversation is a hell of a lot tougher than tracking something over the phone even if the ZPD tried. I know this idea's ambitious, but come on, do we really have anything better to go off of right now?"

Judy thought about the idea for a few moments.

"Well, like you said, it _is_ ambitious, but at this point we don't have any concrete leads. Hopefully there aren't _that_ many startups around here so we can go through them fairly quickly."

"Well, Zootopia's not quite the tech startup capital of the world _yet_ , so we're lucky in that sense. We could pick out some lesser known companies and try asking around there and spot any suspicious activity?", Nick reasoned.

"Alright, let's do it!", his partner replied, a little more optimism in her voice.

* * *

Roughly an hour of searching later, the duo had come up with a small list of small startups they could begin investigating. The companies were fairly low-key and many of their descriptions of services provided were fairly ambiguous - something that aroused suspicion as well. Companies should be clear about what they do - these startups were far from it. Whether it was out of pure inexperience of running a business or if the startups were involved in any unusual activity and masked is as semi-legitimate businesses was something they'd have to find out. They had no search warrants to physically go out and search the offices, so they were hoping if they speak to a potential criminal, they'll be able to spot some kind of inconsistency in their stories, much like they had with Gardner when they questioned him.

They looked at the first company in the list. A small, seemingly no-name startup owned by a mustang named Alan Field. It had very few employees, though what aroused the officers' suspicion was the lack of a concrete office space. The business was registered to an address of course, but the location itself was not a place where one could set up a tech company. In fact, it was, in the literal sense, a random shack on the outskirts of the city.

As they speculated before, the company was so small one would probably not have found it unless they explicitly searched for it.

They dialed the number on the simple website and waited for the mammal to pick up.

"Alan Field speaking, how may I help you?", the voice replied to the call.

"Hi Mr. Field, we're Officers Hopps and Wilde, calling from the ZPD. We have a few questions we'd like to ask if you don't mind."

"Ah, the city's heroes! Go right ahead. How may I help you?"

"We are actually conducting an investigation at the moment and were hoping you could help us. Would you mind telling us what exactly you offer in your company?"

"Oh, are we under suspicion or something?", Field laughed. "Well, we simply create a variety of mobile gaming apps. Simple ones at that. Our company's small so we don't have many mammals to code anything super complex - we're still working on our first app. I know the website seemed a bit sketchy, but I can assure you we'll be out there soon. Nothing you should be worried about. We're clean"

The rest of the conversation went in a typical question-answer format, with all of the mustang's answers satisfying them to make him innocent in their eyes.

Upon ending the call, Nick looked over to Judy with a look of disappointment.

"Well, this is indeed pointless - I don't even think we should bother to keep going. We're clearly getting way too desperate if we think these plans will work.", he stated, rubbing his face with his paws. "It seemed like a good idea in concept, but you were right, we won't get far with this. There has to be another lead."

They glanced at the clock, realizing their shift's almost over.

"Listen, Carrots, maybe we should call it a day. We're tired and we won't get too far with this. Let's continue on a clear mind tomorrow."

The bunny simply nodded and yawned.

* * *

Alan Field ended the call with the officers and immediately walked down the hall to an office at the end. He knocked.

Upon entering, he cleared his throat, getting ready to speak, nervously looking at the mink in front of him.

"Black, the ZPD just called. Thankfully I managed to get them off our tail for now but we need to be careful from now on. They may be on to us..."

"Who called? Did they introduce themselves?", Black brought his paws together in anticipation of the response as he sat up at attention.

"Hopps and Wilde."

Black leaned back in his chair, a smirk spreading on his face.

"Those two just don't know when to give up, do they? I warned them about this. Well, no matter... how about we get a hostage ready then, let's teach them another lesson and break them down further, shall we?"

* * *

**So as you may have realized, yes, they were very desperate at the end of the chapter for clues, even going as far as trying to brute force the case. Of course, this did cause some trouble for them which they'll soon run into...**

**As a final note, I'm starting to write the next chapter but will soon be out on vacation, so I'm not sure if I'll be able to finish it before then. If I do finish it and feel satisfied with the result, I'll post it before leaving. If not, don't worry, I'll get back to work as soon as I'm back. I don't want to rush it in the end, I'd rather work a little more but give you guys a better chapter.**

**Cheers! :)**


	13. Questions

**I'm back! :)**

**The past few chapter have been fairly action-packed for our heroes, so this one will be a little more laid-back, dealing more with emotional components of the characters. I have to say, I was somewhat expecting the writing process to take a little longer for this chapter, but it seems that I was wrong. I guess a good writing streak came along and I was able to finish this chapter pretty quickly despite its length, largely thanks to the fact that I managed to plan it out before going off on vacation. Either way, I'd say that's a win in the end.**

**So yeah, here's the new chapter, and as always I hope you guys enjoy it and thank you everyone for your patience! :)**

**Cheers!**

* * *

"So... uhhh... Nick, how are you feeling?"

Judy's question jolted the fox back into the reality. They've been seated at a small but rather busy diner for the past half hour or so, slowly nibbling away at their respective dishes. Neither was particularly hungry, so a salad for each of them was sufficient for the meal.

Judy sat opposite to Nick, patiently waiting for his response while trying to see past the emotional walls he was putting up again. After their shift was done, she convinced Nick to go out and eat instead of them heading to her apartment they temporarily shared after his was destroyed just days ago. First off, she felt that no matter how much Nick denied it, he needed the company of another mammal right now, and she especially knew if they went straight to her home, they'd be asleep in seconds upon their arrival which would certainly help restore their energy, but wouldn't help deal with her concern for her partner's mental well-being. This brought her to the second reason: Nick was clearly not revealing the full extent of his emotions. Judy was hoping that a different setting could help him get over the hurdle, one where they could chat not as officers on duty, but as friends.

_Friends_ , the rabbit thought to herself. _What a subjective term it's become._

At the very least, that's what it felt like to her. The past couple of months have been rather interesting in terms of her feelings. Sure, they were the closest of friends for some time now, but now she was questioning whether the term 'friends' could really cut it at this point. She couldn't quite point it out as love, but she certainly felt as if he was more than a friend to her - feelings that aren't quite as intimate right now, but might develop into something more if they shared the same feelings. This, of course, was the most delicate topic, especially at that moment. Part of her wanted to tell him everything, even though she didn't quite know how she'd phrase it, much less know what exactly "it" was. It ever so slightly surprised her that the fact that he was of a different species wasn't at the very least concerning to her. She never even considered it to be an issue, nor did she seem to have a problem with having feelings for her partner in the force, even though they'd technically known each other from before Nick's days on the right side of the law. The feelings were just... there, and confusing as ever.

_I suppose we could be something_ , she pondered. _Even if I don't know what that would be. I'm sure it could be sorted out once and for all in a proper conversation._

Then again, bringing it up _now_ was probably not the greatest idea, especially with the way Nick was feeling about other sensitive events that occurred over the past few days. There was no telling how he'd react if she spoke her heart, and how he'd interpret it. She mentally scolded herself for her selfishness of even considering discussing that topic at such a time.

"Wow Carrots...", came the reply from her partner. "How am I feeling huh? You're making me feel like I'm in therapy or something."

Nick smiled before he leaned back in his chair, pretending to absently stare at the ceiling as if he was recounting some memory during a visit to the doctor's office.

"You see, Doctor Hopps, many years ago... I had this fear... it's just all so terrible."

He sat back upright as his face was back in its usual smirk. Judy couldn't resist the urge to giggle at his comic exaggeration but forced herself to return to a more serious tone. She knew him well enough to tell he was trying to avoid the topic by injecting humor and changing the subject.

"But actually, Carrots, I'm fine. I'm as physically healthy as I could be.", the fox concluded as he returned to eating his salad, his confident smile unfading.

Judy sighed and lowered her fork back down, dreading her next step. She hated pressuring him like this, especially when he was so obvious in his attempts to avoid this conversation at all costs. Sometimes, however, it was better to cause a bit of pain, but to feel better in the long run. She did, indeed, feel like a psychiatrist in this scenario.

"Listen, let's be serious here. I'm not talking about your physical health."

She mentally braced herself for the question she was about to ask.

"Nick, how are you _actually_ feeling?"

Her partner let out a frustrated huff, putting his fork down rather decisively into his salad. He looked down for a few seconds, concealing his expression from the rabbit, leaving her in nervous anticipation.

When Nick finally looked up, his smirk was gone. His lips were pursed and his eyes were calm - almost too calm for the subject, as if he didn't care.

"I don't know, _Judy_ , how do you want me to feel?", he replied, his voice almost a whisper.

That was the one response Judy was expecting the least. She had run through almost all the possible answers Nick could give and had a response planned out for each, but somehow not for this one. She was at a loss for words. As always, the use of her name indicated she'd struck a nerve with her question.

"W... well... what do you mean?", was the only thing she could stutter out, surprise written all over her face.

"Don't act like you don't know.", Nick cut her off, his voice slightly on edge with an almost angry teasing in it. "You and half the Precinct are trying to get into my head to figure out how I'm feeling, always claiming it's to 'help' me. Trust me, mammals have been trying to do that for years before you guys and I've seen all the tricks. It. Won't. Work."

He was leaning over the table towards his partner as he spoke the last few words, staring intently into her eyes, as if it was a contest of who can intimidate who first.

"I'm dealing with it, okay?", he continued, pausing briefly to gather his thoughts. "Fine, I'm _trying_ to deal with it. I'll get through it eventually, much like every other problem I've faced. I know I have to get past this, and I will. I don't want anyone else to have to share the pain with me, especially you. You're the closest mammal to me, Judy, I don't want you hurting because of something you didn't do. You don't want to get involved in my inner conflicts."

"But we're partners, don't you understand that?", Judy protested, her voice filling with frustration. "We have to be there for each other. I'm here for you, much like the many other times you've been there for me. I want to help you, so please, don't do this alone, at least tell me what's going on."

"I'm much the same fox you always knew, Carrots, so do you not trust me to be capable of coping?"

"Honestly? No. I don't.", she responded bluntly as she finally grew tired of her partner's rebuttals and excuses. "Yes, you're 99% the same wonderful mammal I always knew, but this kind of stuff will always change you whether you like it or not. For god's sake you shot a mammal and had your house blown up. There's no telling how exactly it affected you, and it's most likely not something you'd realize on your own. Let me help you, it'll be over quicker that way."

Suddenly, Nick took out his wallet, retrieved a few bills and tossed them on the table as he got up. His face was a mixture of sadness and anger, though it was tough to tell which was the dominant one.

"We're done here. I'll see you tomorrow."

The response was brief and to the point, almost monotone but final. The conversation was over. He turned around and headed for the door, leaving behind a confused Judy and his unfinished bowl of salad. She continued sitting there as Nick walked out the doors and turned out onto the street, walking in the opposite direction of her apartment complex, with clearly no intention of spending the night there. The very moment the rabbit recovered from her initial shock, she immediately rushed out after her partner, desperately trying to catch up to him.

"Nick!", she called out as she spotted her partner. She caught up to him, reaching out to tug on his arm and bring him to a halt.

" _What_ _?_ ", was his only response as he turned to face her, as if telling her to spit out whatever she wanted to say and leave. Something clearly snapped in him, and she didn't want to end the night on such bad terms. To be quite frank, Judy didn't remember seeing Nick this irritated, especially with her. He was normally incredibly patient, despite his sarcasm and occasional snarky comments. Something was off with the fox, his actions were indicative of that.

"Look, Nick. I'm sorry for what I said, okay? I trust you, I really do. It's just..."

"Carrots, don't worry, what happened back there... I wasn't mad at you. I don't know what that was to be fair.", the fox interrupted, trying his best to form a smile, though the result was uncharacteristically lacking his usual confidence. "I'm sorry if it seemed like it, but I'm actually not angry with you. I'm just... I dunno... I don't know how to feel right now, okay? I'm confused and to be quite frank, yes, you were right, now that I think about it. I do feel like something's different. Maybe it's not significant, but I probably won't come out of this as the carbon copy of the mammal I was before, much like Bogo back in the day. I'll figure it out eventually."

He shrugged his shoulders as he finished his brief spiel. Judy spoke up.

"Nick, I care about you, as a friend... maybe as more than a friend..."

She immediately cut herself off there, realizing her emotions got the better of her. This was not the way Judy Hopps did things. Despite being the more emotional one of the duo, she wasn't supposed to let this happen. Naturally, Nick caught on to those words as well.

"Wait... what?", he inquired incredulously.

A silence fell between the two.

"I'm sorry, I probably shouldn't have said that.", Judy muttered, her ears drooping in shame.

"No no no, it's not that.", her partner responded. "It's not like I'm shutting you down or anything. It's just... unexpected that's all. Plus I can only assume what you meant, I mean, maybe I'm just being a dumb fox and assuming too much ya know? Furthermore, we're on a case, and I don't think it's the best time to get picky about specific word use. We all have our slip ups"

"Yeah... yeah", Judy whispered, just loud enough for Nick to hear. "It's... nothing. You know what? Forget that I said this. It's not important."

Nick simply smiled back.

"Whatever you say, Fluff! Between the two of us, you're the boss anyhow."

_At least he still has some humor left in him._ Judy thought with a glimmer of hope as they turned around and walked down the street, this time together as they headed to her apartment to get some much-needed sleep.

She managed to diffuse the situation, not to mention inadvertently allowing her uncertain feelings to slip by. Thankfully, Nick didn't take offense to it as she feared, leaving her with some hope that when this is over, they might be able to actually discuss that topic. She felt that she at least had to be honest with him. Judy had nothing to hide, and something told her that revealing those thoughts and feelings was for the better, regardless if they were shared or not.

In the meantime, they had a case to crack.

* * *

Nick woke up on the ground with a gasp of pain, clenching his teeth as his body protested against all his motions.

"What the hell...", he muttered under his breath, trying to remember where he was and how he got here.

"Nick!", a familiar voice pierced his thoughts as his head shot up despite the pain in his neck.

The room was dark, in fact, so dark that everything was covered in pitch black shadows, with only Nick and Judy standing in an illuminated area. The whole scene was, putting it lightly, almost surreal. Nick focused on his partner, only to have his eyes widen in shock and horror. She was a bruised and bloody mess, as if she just got out of a nasty fistfight. She was still wearing the same clothes from the night in the diner, only now they were torn in several places, and her fur was a mess, stained with blood in several places and bruised skin under it. Despite this, it seemed as if she was overflowing with energy, desperately looking around the room to find a way out, but the darkness made it hard to discern anything. Whenever her eyes turned to him, he saw pain and worry in them - pain for him.

He looked down to examine his state. It was much like his partner's - same clothes from the previous night, stained with blood and bruises all over his body. He could have sworn he tasted blood in his mouth as well. He strained his memory, trying to piece together the events that led up to this, only to fail. He remembered they were walking to Judy's apartment to crash and sleep, only to wake up here. He had no recollection of being mugged, they didn't get into a fight, nor were they tortured from what he could recall. More importantly, who would do this to them and why, despite his excellent night vision, could he not see what was in the shadows?

The answer to the first question came fairly quickly as they heard soft footsteps of a small mammal approaching them accompanied by some chuckling.

"Oh, you're looking fantastic, officers", the voice was unmistakable. Even though they only heard it a few times, they could recognize it anywhere.

James Black emerged from the shadows. He wore a smirk that was all too similar to Nick's, but there was a rage in his eyes. The mink looked like hell as well, with multiple cuts evident on his body, his grey suit torn in several places. The cop duo stared at the criminal in confusion. What happened to _him_? Were they somehow to blame for his current state? If so, why couldn't they remember anything?

Nick finally decided to make a move.

"Heh, you're looking beautiful yourself, buddy", he shot back, trying to put on his most sly look despite the pain he was experiencing.

Black howled in maniacal laughter at the response, catching both officers off guard. They didn't know him all too well, but nonetheless the laughter seemed uncharacteristic of him at best.

"Ah, you have a way with words, Officer Wilde. I'm not surprised you got so far with your previous endeavors with that silver tongue of yours.", he responded, still chuckling after the fit of laughter, wiping away a tear. It seemed that despite his injures, he was unfazed by any pain. In fact, it was as if he was oblivious to his condition, acting as if he was perfectly healthy.

"Unfortunately...", he continued, suddenly turning serious. "It won't really help with me."

He suddenly pulled out a handgun from inside his jacket, aiming it at Nick's partner.

"Judy!", he screamed, desperate to help as the rabbit stood there, petrified with fear.

The gun went off, with the bullet hitting Judy right between the eyes. She fell back on the ground with a soft thud, eyes wide and staring into the ceiling. Nick rushed over to her, cradling her in his arms, screaming her name in a futile attempt to get a response as her blood flowed onto his paws and stained his clothes. It was no use - she was gone.

"Why?...", Nick grit his teeth, looking back at the mink, tears welling up in his eyes. "Why did you do this."

"Simple", James responded nonchalantly. "Tell me, did you know what it feels like to have someone you know be killed, and not be able to do anything about it?"

The fox officer was silent, glaring at the mink, refusing to give him the satisfaction of a response.

Black sighed.

"Well, now you know. You killed one of my comrades back in City Hall. It was only fair I let you experience the same thing."

Silence. The mink continued.

"It was your fault. Everything was your fault. _He_ died because of you, and _she_ died because of you. You brought your pain down upon her. You can't even help yourself, much less help others.", the mink stated, his voice rising in anger as he pointed to Judy's body.

It was as if a million voices filled Nick's head, each one repeating an endless stream of "your fault", over and over again until it was unbearable. He shut his eyes, trying to get the voices out of his head, to no avail. He simply looked up at the mink, baring his teeth.

"Go to hell", he whispered.

"Ah, well, our organization does have a holy cause of sorts, don't forget that.", Black reminded him. "But yes, _I_ probably will."

He looked down at the handgun and back up to Nick.

"You first though."

James leveled the weapon with Nick's head and fired.

The voices stopped.

Nick shot up from the bed, gasping for air, a paw on his chest. He looked around the room, trying to take in his surroundings. They were in Judy's apartment, with the rabbit still sleeping beside him. She was alive and there was no sign of Black. Since Judy only had one bed and a rather small space in her home, they opted to share the bed, not seeing any issues with the arrangement. After all, they were just friends... right?

He glanced at the clock - it was 2:31am, only a few hours of sleep left until they'd have to get back up to work. He flopped back down against his pillow, trying to get the nightmare out of his head as he covered his face with his paws. Judy's words from earlier that night replayed in his mind.

_"...maybe as more than a friend..._ "

What did she mean by that? Maybe he was putting too much meaning into the otherwise meaningless phrase. They did joke around a lot about "loving" each other, though a joke like such at that moment would have been in poor taste, and he knew Judy was better than that. Nonetheless, he was too curious not to ask further. He realized he wouldn't mind it if she was serious... what if something came of it? Even now one could say they were a little more than friends, but...

_No, bad Nick_ , he scolded himself.

Now was not the time to ponder on this. They were on a case, and even then, before they got to the topic of feelings, he had to sort himself out first. He was getting better, but the dream brought back a sense of guilt to him, and he could already tell he wasn't quite himself lately. It was only natural, even Bogo said so. He told himself it was a matter of time before he gets used to all this and accepts things as they are.

He closed his eyes once more, anxious to get back to sleep but dreading whatever other dreams may be awaiting him. He wasn't one to believe in superstitions or the predictive nature of dreams, but this one time something kept nagging him that this particular nightmare may be more significant than he'd like to admit...


	14. Duty Calls

The conversation from the previous night was not discussed at the precinct the next day. It was an unspoken agreement not to push the subject any further and focus instead on the task at hand - the case on which the well-being of the city was dependent.

Upon their arrival at the precinct in the morning, they were asked to report to the Chief's office after the bullpen briefing. Bogo was primarily concerned with the lack of progress in the case, but did not lay any blame on the officers. On the contrary, he praised them for the good work, but once again reminded them they had to double their search efforts to look for leads. This was certainly not an easy case and the longer they waited, the more likely it was that Black would strike again elsewhere in the city with potentially deadly consequences.

As a result, the duo opted to look through past case files in hopes of uncovering some kind of trend from past cases that could relate to the organization they faced right now. This, unfortunately, was proving to be a tedious task.

"Ugh, this is frustrating", Nick groaned as he leaned back in his chair and rubbing his eyes after setting aside the 4th case file of the day. "This is gonna take _hours._ "

"Well, unfortunately we don't have anything better to do.", Judy quipped. "And come on, sitting in the office is the _best_ part of the day!"

Nick simply sighed and turned around with an unimpressed look to face his partner.

"Carrots, let's be real here, you're never going to be as good at witty remarks as I am. That was _painful_ at best."

"Or...", Judy replied with a smirk. "It's a 'so bad it's good' joke. Ever thought of that?"

"No, that's just a poor excuse for a bad joke.", Nick stated simply with a smirk of his own. "Look, you're alright at hustling, I'll admit that, but leave the humor to me."

His partner simply pouted and let out a huff of frustration as the pair returned to looking over the seemingly endless stacks of files.

The early afternoon was almost cloudless, with the warm weather begging them to forget their work and step outside. They knew, however, if they didn't stay in and work, there might be another mammal somewhere in the city who wouldn't be able to enjoy this weather for much longer. Time was certainly not on their side at that point and they were fighting the clock to prevent further casualties of Black's plans.

Just then, a particular case file caught Judy's attention.

"This is interesting...", she announced, breaking the silence between them. "Looks like we know where our mink might have gotten his inspiration."

"Ah yeah? Do tell.", Nick spun his chair around and rolled up to her side of the desk to examine the contents of the file.

"There was a case in 1993 about some cheetah named Bill Sands. It says he went on a murder spree for several months, killing 14 mammals in the process. When they caught him, he was quoted as saying he was "running free". He claimed he wasn't tied down by any government or organization and his only law was that of his morality, which in his case, was killing others. So much for morals..."

"So he was a serial killer in essence.", Nick clarified.

"Pretty much.", the rabbit agreed. "A serial killer who used anarchy to justify his actions, which still makes it terrible. Obviously this happened some time ago and Black couldn't have been involved since Sands was a lone wolf in his act. I'm still wondering though if this may have served as an inspiration for what Black's doing now, especially since he may have had access to this case file during his time on the force as a detective. Even the whole "running free" slogan and the reasoning behind his actions is very, very similar, even when it comes to the way Black phrased his thoughts back at the warehouse."

"Maybe. Unfortunately though it doesn't really give us much insight about what's going on _today_.", Nick abruptly cut off her train of thoughts as he returned to his side of the office to continue examining his set of case files. "Let's go on to something else. That case is probably not really significant anymore. Sands was killing random mammals, while Black's systematically going after the institutions and government and the mammals who work for them. The only common things between the two was the catch-phrase they use."

"True...", she agreed, but a nagging thought suddenly surfaced.

Something was off. She noticed Nick's mouth twitched a few times while looking at the file and she could have sworn she saw a bit of sadness flash across his eyes. And then there was the way he cut her off and went back to work, as if he wanted to avoid seeing that case file altogether. Was Nick reminiscing of something from that investigation? He was _very_ young at that point, how could he have been involved? She rummaged through the papers and found a cut out newspaper article. Reading through it she suddenly understood everything. It _had_ to be it, but the only way to find out for sure was to ask Nick, though the topic was _especially_ sensitive. While she obviously wasn't allowed to take the original copy anywhere outside the precinct, the article wasn't an important or confidential piece of evidence, having been in a newspaper distributed all over the city in its day, so she was permitted to make a copy of it to take with her.

Returning from the photocopy room she proceeded to look at the next case file, desperately hoping to find some kind of clue.

A possible lead soon came along, but not in the form they were expecting. It was just past 1:00 in the afternoon when an unexpected radio call came in.

"Hopps, Wilde.", Clawhauser's voice suddenly burst from their radios.

"Speaking.", Judy picked up and spoke into her device. "Everything alright?"

"Not exactly.", the dispatcher replied tensely, as if he wasn't sure what to say himself. A few moments later he recollected his thoughts. "We have a situation down at Sahara Mall. We just received a report from mall security of a suspicious mammal. It's a male lynx, wearing a grey jacket and blue jeans. Obviously his attire's not quite for the weather, not to mention he's been awkwardly standing in the middle of the mall for the past little while."

"Yeah, looks like the guy was headed for Tundra Town but took a wrong turn or something.", Nick chuckled. "But we're Precinct 1 - we don't cover the Sahara Square area..."

"Well, there's more.", Clawhauser continued. "This whole time he's been asking to see you two and refused to move or say anything else."

" _Us_? Why?", Judy replied with confusion evident in her voice.

"They didn't say. Though the guards did see some wires sticking out from the coat, so they suspect it may be a bomb though the suspect hasn't confirmed it. They couldn't get the guy to open his jacket, he said only the two of you could do it. Security doesn't want to take any chances and I can see where they're coming from. We're talking about the largest mall in Zootopia here. We should probably do as our suspect says. It doesn't take much on our part to drive up there but it could diffuse a potentially dangerous situation - no pun intended."

"Yeah, you're right.", the rabbit agreed while her partner nodded in approval. "Okay, well, we can check it out. Hopefully it's a false alarm and it won't take too long so we'll be back on the case."

"You know, Carrots, something's telling me this may be _related_ to our case.", Nick mused as they prepared to head out.

Within moments Chief Bogo was at their office entrance having received word of the call, ready to brief them.

"Alright Officers, you know the drill. Be very careful and approach the suspect with caution. We have no idea who and what we're dealing with. Also don't forget to grab your weapons - remember, we've been cleared to carry lethal guns now, and for situations like this it may be safer to do so. If anything goes wrong, call for reinforcements immediately."

Judy and Nick responded with a "Yes sir" and a salute in unison before ensuring their weapons were holstered and heading out to the parking lot. Just before leaving, Judy folded the copied article and took it with her. The ride to Savanna Mall would take a while, and there was plenty of time to ask Nick about the contents of that newspaper story...

* * *

They drove in silence to the scene, curious about what is to come. Very little was known about the situation and the spontaneity only added to the mystery. Judy was at the wheel while Nick stared blankly out the window at the changing scenery around them as it transitioned from the tall, glass skyscrapers of Savanna Central to the clay, brick and mortar structures of Sahara Square, save for a few lavish hotels in the area. The article Judy uncovered from the cases still bothered her, making her want to share her concern with Nick, especially when she suspected it could relate to his past.

She reached into her pocket and pulled out the photocopied story. She cleared her throat, getting Nick's attention.

"So... Nick...", she began, trying to formulate her question.

"Hm?"

"While we were looking through cases back at the station, I stumbled upon something. Remember the case files of the murdering anarchist we studied? The one who started the whole "I'm running free" catchphrase?"

"The Bill Sands case? Yeah, what of it?"

Judy extended her paw clutching the copied article in Nick's direction, who quickly took it. He read the headline out loud.

"Anarchist Strikes Again: 2 More Victims. What are you trying to say Carrots?"

He was thoroughly confused until he noticed the date and saw the victims' names: William Hooverton and Alexander Wilde.

He lowered the article and leaned his head back, eyes closed, a long sigh escaping his mouth.

"I'm sorry Nick, I didn't want to find that out like this.", Judy spoke quietly, keeping her eyes on the road but hearing the sigh from her partner. "I just... I noticed it and couldn't help it. Is that..."

"You know, Carrots, I'd really appreciate it if you didn't dig in my private life and past without me knowing, especially with my father's death. You know you could've just asked. And yes, that _was_ my father."

"I'm sorry. It's just that the topic never really came up and... I just happened to see it. It's a bad coincidence."

"I understand, it's not really your fault that you saw it.", her partner replied bleakly, turning to face her. "I suppose you want to know what happened?"

The rabbit nodded.

"Well I suppose it's only fair I tell you, given how much you've told me about your family life.", Nick began. "It happened around a year before the Ranger Scouts incident, so I was around 7 or so. Actually there's not much to tell about it. I come home one day and there's an officer in our house, telling us my dad's been killed by some maniac. Of course we didn't know it was that anarchist yet, but it didn't hurt any less. Most of the facts I couldn't understand since I was so young, but I was reminded of them again when I was a little older and wiser. He was on his way home and... he got shot in the neck, pretty much where I shot Clawson back at City Hall. He bled out on the street before the ambulance could arrive."

Judy glanced over at him, pain in her eyes.

"I'm sorry.", she spoke softly, trying to keep her eyes from watering with tears.

"It wasn't your fault - don't be. Thankfully the bastard who killed him got locked away so at least there was some closure. It's just when I shot Clawson... I immediately remembered it was the exact same way my dad died. I never thought I'd be in a position when I'd kill someone, especially in such a similar fashion."

Judy took one paw of the wheel and placed it on her partner's arm in a comforting gesture.

"You shouldn't have had to go through that. It's terrible.", she soothed him as he bowed his head in shame and sadness. "But Sands did it out of hate at the time. _He_ was a murderer. _You_ were doing your job. If not Clawson, someone would've still died in that gunfight at City Hall, it may have been one or even both of us if we didn't take him down. Sometimes that's the only way to guarantee the safety of the city and your fellow officers."

Nick simply shrugged and continued staring out the window while remaining uncharacteristically silent and lost in thought. Judy was about to say more, but figured it was best to leave him be, just to avoid triggering any other terrible memories. After all, they still had a job to do, and Sahara Mall was just ahead of them by now. They had to keep calm for this one.

They parked the cruiser in the general parking lot before strolling through the massive glass doors into the cool, air conditioned interior of the mall. A huge, open space stretched out around them, shining with brightly colored walls and flashing store signs and advertisements while hundreds of mammals strolled through the several floors of the massive complex, each one minding their own business and being completely oblivious to the potential crime scene that was developing nearby.

"We should probably call in and ask where our guy is.", Nick remarked. "This is the best possible representation of looking for a needle in the haystack."

Judy nodded and was about to reach over to her radio when a ringing interrupted them. It was Judy's phone. She pulled it up, only to find an unknown number on the screen. A sense of dread immediately overcame the pair as they realized who may be calling them. If that was the case, the next major crime may be just around the corner. It was terrifying to think of the possible vile plans that may be in store for the largest shopping center in Zootopia.

Judy answered the call.

"Hellooooo officers!", Black spoke happily from the other end. "Always good to see you two in uniform. Unfortunately, however, it seems you two continued digging deeper in the case. I'm sorry, I don't think you'd be able to get any possible leads from anyone but me, but then again, you'll have to catch me first which is rather unlikely. You have other things to worry about now, however. You remember the bomb in Officer Wilde's apartment? Of course you remember, who am I kidding? Anyhow, think of this as lesson 2 for not listening to me and staying on the case, except now the stakes are higher. You'll find him in the middle of the mall - same floor you're on right now."

With those words the call ended.

"That mink's a goddamn psychopath...", Nick muttered under his breath as they made their way to the location of the suspicious mammal.

It didn't take long for them to find the lynx they were looking for. There he was, standing near a mall security officer, wearing a grey winter jacket which was certainly not for this kind of weather. The sweat on the lynx's fur also made it evident he wasn't particularly comfortable in it, which mean that for whichever reason he was wearing it, it was likely not something he was doing willingly.

They cautiously approached him, paws slowly reaching for their weapons in case they had to pull them out. In the meantime, the crowds of mammals flowed past them, completely ignoring the unfolding scene as they went on with their daily lives.

The were now face to face with the lynx. He had a cream-colored fur coat with a multitude of black spots and seemed to be in his mid 30s, well-groomed and looking extremely tense and nervous. They could have sworn he was shaking.

"May I?", Nick inquired cautiously, reaching forward with a paw to unzip the winter jacket and look at what was on the inside.

The terrified mammal shakily nodded, after which Nick slowly pulled down the zipper ever so slowly and pulled apart the 2 sides of the coat. On the inside, the officers could see a multitude of wires and it didn't take long to trace their origin - a small metallic, grey box with a timer in it, currently stopped at 10 minutes.

Judy's phone rang again as another call came in, this time from a different unknown number. Black was certainly doing a good job at remaining untraceable.

As soon as the rabbit picked up the call, the mink's voice rang from the phone once more.

"Oh oh oh, and here's the fun part. I see you two found the bomb. Now, if you don't do anything or try disarming it, our feline friend here will most _certainly_ die a gruesome, explosive death and most likely take many others with him. It's a powerful bomb after all. In that case you'll have to live with the guilt that you could have found a way out, but didn't, that is, if you come out alive from the blast. It's definitely not a device you'd like to see in action. Or, since the bomb only works as long as he's alive, you could kill him and save many lives, but then you'll have to live with the fact that you killed a poor, defenseless civilian. I know this may all seem confusing and there are a few other rules I should mention, but I'm sure you'll figure out the deal with all this on your own real soon. Also if you call for an evacuation we will detonate the bomb remotely and you all die right away. Your move."

Black was clearly watching them. Nick and Judy turned their heads in every direction, desperately trying to catch sight of the mink, but it was too difficult to do among the crowds of shoppers.

There was a beep as the timer started counting down.


	15. Either Way, You Die

**Hi folks!**

**So first off, I want to thank each and every one of you for your support, whether it was by following, reviewing or by simply reading the story, it still means a lot!**

**This is definitely the longest chapter of this story to date, and a lot happens here, so hopefully it'll be as fun for you guys to read as it was for me to write and put together :)**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

They had to think fast. In theory they were trained for such situations, but in the moment it was much more difficult to come up with a solution than they thought, despite being the top officers of their respective classes.

As a first step, Judy gave the security guard Black's physical description and asked him to get a few more guards and search the area for any signs of the mink. It wasn't much but it was a start. They had tried to speak with the terrified mammal to whom the bomb was strapped, but he was in too much shock to form any coherent response, so they had to let it go.

They had just over 9 minutes remaining.

"Dispatch, 2-7-4 responding to reported suspicious activity in Sahara Mall - we'll need a bomb disposal team here ASAP", Nick spoke into the radio, not keeping his eye off the lynx.

"Roger that", Clawhauser responded. "We can have one there in roughly 8 minutes."

"Dammit", the fox cursed under his breath. "Negative dispatch, that's not enough time. We have less than 9 minutes until this thing goes off."

"2-7-4, this is Precinct 3 dispatch", another voice piped up on the general frequency. "We can have a team at your location in 2 minutes."

"Roger that, please hurry. We're pretty much in the middle of the mall here - ground floor."

By now shoppers had begun to grow curious about the unfolding situation and have formed a large crown around the 2 officers and the lynx, which was certainly not what was needed. Some even had their phones pulled out, taking photos and videos of the scene. The 2 officers had no time to worry about that, however. If they didn't act quickly, all these mammals around them wouldn't make it out of the mall alive that day.

Unfortunately, there wasn't much else to do but to comfort the terrified mammal as they waited for the bomb squad to arrive.

As they tried to engage the lynx in at least some kind of conversation once again, but ultimately failing to do so, a group of ZPD officers finally broke through the crowd and approached them. The bomb disposal team was here. Quickly donning their protective equipment and retrieving the required tools, they cautiously approached the lynx and got to work.

By now, they had just over 5 minutes remaining.

Nonetheless, Nick and Judy found themselves to be a little less tense than before. They were aware the bomb squads went through rigorous training, and they were certain they'd be able to find a way out of this sticky situation.

Roughly a minute later one of the experts returned to them, sparking a bit of hope in the 2 officers waiting for the news. However, upon raising the visor, they realized the badger bomb technician didn't appear so pleased.

"Well, officers, I'm sorry to say whoever we're dealing with here really thought things through - we can't safely disarm it.", the mammal sighed.

"What do you mean you can't 'safely' disarm it?", Nick exclaimed. "There's a fairly standard process for it, no? Like you just cut the right wires, right?"

"In a way, yes, but this bomb is more complicated.", the badger explained. "They set it up in such a way, that if the device detects a wire has been cut or otherwise tampered with, the timer drops by a minute."

"No...", Judy muttered in disbelief. "Does that mean..."

"It means", the bomb squad officer raised a paw to continue. "That if we continue disarming it, it would explode before we finish. Our disarming process still requires removing and cutting through more wires than we have minutes remaining among other adjustments to fully shut the device down. So far we've cut through 2 wires and it subsequently shaved 2 minutes off the timer. As we speak, we have just under 2 minutes left until it explodes and we still need to remove at least 4 more wires. That's not enough time to spare. I'm sorry, officers, but we'll have to find another way."

"Black said there was also a deal that as long as the lynx is alive the timer's still counting down. Maybe we can just cut the connection to a heartbeat monitor or something if that exists there?", the rabbit quickly suggested.

"I wouldn't even get into that. It seems these guys have done a good job at concealing those as well. Turns out all the medical sensors that monitor his vitals have been surgically implanted so we can't get to them on scene. The scars and stitching is still fresh from that operation. Yeah, I know, these guys are _brutal_. Again, cutting those wires would make the countdown go by quicker as well."

"So the mink wasn't bluffing about this being a tough one...", Nick muttered under his breath.

"We have one minute!", one of the bomb techs called out, standing beside the lynx in the winter jacket. "We need to figure something out!"

"We should call for an evacuation.", the badger stated.

"No, we can't do that", Nick intervened. "They're going to remotely detonate it if we start getting mammals out."

Meanwhile, the crowd of onlookers remained where it was, as if the mammals were oblivious to the impending danger. They seemed to be paralyzed with either fear or curiosity, or both.

Suddenly, the lynx spoke up with an incredibly shaky voice.

"Officers, just kill me. Please, there's nothing more that could be done."

"No", the fox officer protested. "We'll find another way."

The mammal with the bomb simply shook his head sadly.

"There is no other way. You don't understand what you're facing. They took me as I was walking down the street and the next thing I know I wake up in the middle of the mall with this strapped onto me. A mink was standing beside me, and said he... he'd be watching us and the only thing to stop this would be to kill me. There's no other way. Either you kill me and save these mammals, or I die anyway and take everyone with me."

By now, there was less than 30 seconds remaining on the timer.

"No no no, just think about your family, your friends.", Nick tried reasoning with him. "We don't have much time, we need to figure something out here. Did he tell you anything else?"

"I have no family, I never really had one.", the lynx ignored the officer's question. "I don't have many friends either. There will be no one to grieve for me. Please, just do it."

"Shit", Nick cursed.

15 seconds.

"Just save the other mammals, don't worry about me.", the lynx pleaded, tears streaming down his eyes. "Just..."

A gunshot interrupted the conversation.

The lynx fell to the ground, a gunshot wound through his chest. With a thud, he settled onto the cold marble floor and lay still. Screams erupted from the crowd, some mammals turned away, others ran, while others still had their phones and cameras pointed at the scene, shock written on their faces.

The timer stopped.

The ZPD officers on scene looked over to the source of the gunshot.

With a shaky paw, Judy lowered her weapon. She fell to her knees as the gun dropped to the floor, with her paws over her face has her body shook from uncontrollable sobs and crying. Nick rushed over and pulled her into a tight embrace as she cried into his uniform while the other officers watched the terrible situation unfold, heads bowed in sadness.

Meanwhile, 2 floors above, Black watched from the crowd at the results of his latest terrifying plan with satisfaction.

"And now, Officer Hopps", he muttered to no one in particular. "You now know how Officer Wilde feels. This is the beginning of the end for the two of you."

He quietly switched off the remote detonator, before ensuring no one noticed anything. He turned around and left the building.

In the meantime, news crews had already begun setting up around the scene to begin reporting what was most certainly going to be a _very_ controversial story.

* * *

It took a lot of effort to get Judy back in the cruiser and away from the crime scene. At first she aggressively fought back any efforts to get her off the ground, until she stopped crying and simply stared ahead with a blank expression. Nick knew how she felt - the memories of his own recent experience were still very fresh and he found himself unwillingly reliving each moment.

His partner was in no state to drive, so he chose to do it himself, having her in the passenger seat this time around. At first he tried getting at least something out of her, but after only receiving nods and shakes of her head as responses, he dropped the conversation. She needed time to process all this.

The only thing was able to say was "I'm so sorry...", which she repeated over and over again during their drive back to the station.

Back at the precinct they were immediately called back into the Chief's office. Upon entering the room, they noticed the buffalo was looking at the TV screen, with the latest breaking news being covered. Naturally, it was the incident from Sahara Mall. The screen was split in half, with the ZNN snow leopard anchor on one side, and a hedgehog reporter on the other.

"So as things stand right now", the anchor spoke. "the responding officers had no other choice but to kill the suspect?"

"That _seems_ to be the case at this time", the reporter confirmed, the yellow tape closing off the crime scene visible right behind him. "While we have no concrete evidence at the time, witnesses have reported they overheard the responding officers, among which were Judy Hopps and Nicholas Wilde, the ZPD's first rabbit and fox officers respectively, talking about how there was no way to disarm the bomb unless the suspect was dead, based on the device's design. It seems with the recent shootings at the City Hall which resulted in the death of Mayor Theodore as well as the mysterious murder of 2 ZPD officers near the port have forced the police to start carrying lethal weapons with them rather than the usual tranquilizer guns. Whether or not it's for the better or for the worse, we don't know, but after today, opinions are very divided, though most seem to be leaning against this new law at this time."

The screen switched to what appeared to be a clip from an interview with a witness from an earlier report.

"So is that what happens when the police has full access to lethal weapons?", the opossum ranted into the camera. "They just take the 'easy' way out and shoot suspects and hostages to get the job done?"

The screen switched to an interview with a bear who was also a witness at the scene.

"I'm sure they're doing their best as always.", the mammal spoke, a little more calmly than the previous witness. "But to be fair, my trust in them is... shaken. Can they really protect us from future attacks if they have to go to such extremes, or are we on our own in this?"

The image now returned to the ZNN anchor, sitting at her desk.

"Well, it does indeed seem like a _really_ hot topic right now. Yes, it seems they had no choice at the time, but it's still very much up in the air whether or not the situation could have been handled differently. Was there another way out of this? It's definitely going to be a very debated topic for the next while, and hopefully we will get a more clarity as the ZPD investigates this tragic incident. Now, onto other news..."

Bogo switched off the TV and tossed the remote back onto his desk.

"First off, I wasn't there at the scene so I can't really speak as a witness, but regardless, I'm sorry for what the two of you had to go through.", he began, having taken note of Nick and Judy's defeated looks. The rabbit officer especially concerned him, which was no surprise. After the incident, Nick managed to call in and notify the buffalo of the events at the mall. Another mammal was shot, and it was a civilian at that, but given the circumstances, it was either the death of the lynx, or having half of the mall be brought down by the bomb with potentially dozens of deaths and even more injuries.

"That being said", the buffalo continued, "I need you to tell me if this situation brought up _anything_ at all. Maybe a new lead or something."

Nick nodded, while Judy simply stared into space.

"Well, looking back I have actually noticed something.", the fox stated, trying to remember the exact words he heard from Black's phone call. "Black called us right before this whole fiasco and he mentioned something like 'we won't be getting leads from anyone but him'. If you ask me, it seems an awful lot like he knew we tried digging deeper to find something about him."

"I suppose so", Bogo nodded. "Continue."

"Also,", Nick pondered aloud, "you could probably tell he mentioned 'anyone', as if we didn't just dig deeper, but he knew we were asking others about him, or generally trying to find something out about his organization. The only real digging we did in terms of asking suspects was one call we made last night to a certain Alan Field. That's the only mammal we questioned. So, logic would dictate that mammal may have potentially told Black something."

"Well, it seems like he finally made a mistake.", the Chief agreed. "It's not much, but I think it's enough to be able to take him in as a suspect and question him on whether he's really part of all this. It does seem like too much of a coincidence that you call just one mammal and the next day Black mysteriously knows you were snooping around for information. Thank you very much officers. Do you happen to have anything else about him?"

"Well, like I said, his name's Alan Field", Nick informed his superior, using the most of his excellent memory to recount all the details. "he's a mustang, brown and white fur coat, fairly buff physique. He's also a tech startup owner for a company in the outskirts of the city. Judging by his photo he's not a guy you'd want to piss off."

"Though unfortunately it seems like we'll have to do it. Thank you officers - I think we can search him up and get a warrant on him."

Both cops made a weak salute in acknowledgement.

"That being said", Bogo interjected. "We need to follow some formalities here. Hopps, as much as I believe you wouldn't randomly shoot a civilian, you did end up killing a hostage, so we will have to place you under investigation. The circumstances of all this are terrible and based on Wilde's report of the situation I too don't see how else this could have played out, but rules are rules. I'm sure the investigation will clear you as well, but again, I'm sorry for what you had to do. It was something none of us could have expected to happen. Additionally, I'm suspending both of you from the case - as of now you're on medical leave."

" _What?_ ", both Judy and Nick exclaimed.

"No 'buts', officers. You've been through a lot and it's clear this mink's trying to break you two down, and whether you like it or not, if you stay on the case he _will_ eventually succeed. No mammal could be subjected to so much stress and come out in one piece. He'll just keep pushing you two further until you break completely. You're getting too close to the case and I want to help you two. You have given us more than enough to work with for now and I'm sure we can manage to at least get something done with this case while you two are gone. You'll be back on duty once you're cleared to work and you've recovered from the ordeal. Now, get yourselves sorted out. I don't want to see you two here for at least another week - get some rest and take your mind off this."

Judy and Nick knew there was no point in protesting as they replied with a simple "yes sir", before heading out the door, leaving the Bogo behind feeling a tinge of guilt for what had to be done, but deep down inside he knew it was for the better in the long run. Cases come and go, and he needed Nick and Judy in their best shape for whatever the future may hold.

Now it was a matter of deciding who to assign to the case...

* * *

It was the early evening by the time Alan Field's city-wide search warrant was put together and was ready to be sent out.

"Alright, this looks good.", Bogo nodded in approval as he read over the document. He turned to Clawhauser who was waiting for his approval to send the request out to the other police departments.

"It's good to go, sir?", the cheetah waited for his confirmation.

"Yes", the buffalo repeated. "I need you to send this everywhere - precincts, toll booths, ports, airports, anywhere Field may try to go. If he's indeed working with Black, he may try to leave the city to avoid confrontations with us. He's most likely not a dumb mammal, so he'll probably realize he may be on the list of suspects since we contacted him before all this went down."

Clawhauser nodded and sent the document out.

"Alright, Chief, now we'll just have to wait.", he announced, turning back to Bogo. "It may take some time for the system to update his status as a wanted mammal, but hopefully it won't be long enough for him to slip by."

Roughly an hour later, Clawhauser called Bogo back up to his desk with further news.

"Chief", he began. "So it seems like we have a match. The system apparently picked him up clearing security at the airport - he's headed for a flight out of town."

"Well, this isn't good. If he leaves, we'll have to issue a nation-wide search which will be even more of a pain to file and we'll lose a lot of time. It's best we catch him while he's still here. Why didn't they stop him at security?"

"He crossed about 40 minutes ago according to the records.", Clawhauser responded. "The system at the airport only updated with his status 10 minutes ago, so they know he was there, but they didn't know he was a suspect yet so it didn't trigger any alarms."

"Okay, I'll make a call then.", the Chief sighed.

He returned to his office, closing the door behind him. The buffalo settled down in his large chair, rubbing his temples.

 _What a day_ , he thought to himself.

He couldn't wait for this to be over.

Picking up the phone, he dialed directly to the Chief of airport police - an elk going by the name of Elliot Merriam.

The phone rang a few times before the other mammal picked up.

"Chief Merriam speaking"

"Hello, it's Chief Bogo calling from Precinct 1. How are you?"

"Ah, Bogo! Long time no see", the mammal exclaimed, a more amicable tone in his voice. "I've been doing fine. How can I help you?"

"Ok, we don't have much time. Did you get the warrant we issued earlier?", Bogo inquired.

"Yup, we got it just a few minutes ago.", the elk confirmed. "Seems like a nice guy, nothing suspicious and no past criminal record either. Wonder what he did to get you guys so riled up."

"Well, we suspect he may be tied in to the organization that killed the mayor and nearly blew up a bomb in Sahara Mall today - I'm sure you heard that one on the news. We've also included everything in the warrant file."

"Ah yes, quite an unfortunate series of events there", Merriam agreed.

"Well, according to the system he just passed security in the domestic terminal. We need you to run a check on him and see which flight he's on.", the buffalo explained.

"Yeah, I think I can do that. Alan Field is the name from what I read?"

"Yes, that's him.", Bogo confirmed.

There was a momentary silence as the Chief at the airport went through the system's records and brought up the required information on their suspect.

"So, I have your guy here", he began. "He just boarded Zootopian Airways flight 84 to... Prairieston, that's _way_ up north. Yeah, he's gonna be pretty far from here. They just left the gate but they haven't taken off yet."

"Damn.", Bogo cursed. "Don't let them take off. We need to get the plane back to the terminal and take Field in."

"Alright, we're on it.", Merriam affirmed as he put the phone down.

* * *

For Alan Field, it was a moment of relief. After the incident at Sahara Mall, Black was certain the ZPD would issue a warrant on all suspect mammals they contacted regarding the case and the mustang was no exception. As a result, they decided it was best for him to leave the city until things settle down and they could find a way to get him back in town later. In the meantime, it was best to get as far away from Zootopia as possible for Field. It was a pleasant surprise to him when he managed to clear security at the airport without any alarms going off - it seems the ZPD were too slow to issue a warrant on his arrest. Flying was obviously the riskier decision, with much tighter security and surveillance than with trains and buses, but it also allowed him to get farther away from the city in a much shorter period of time which minimizes the risk of getting caught en route. The shorter travel times also meant a shorter disruption to Field's work, and he could get back to helping Black from a remote location quicker upon his arrival at the destination. So far, the risk was paying off.

At this point, he looked out the airplane window into the evening scene at the airport as they turned on to the runway. He settled back into his seat, awaiting the moment when the plane would take off. Once it was in the air, he would be in the clear and it was just a matter of waiting another 2-3 hours until they landed at the small town of Prairieston. There wasn't much there, but it was far enough from Zootopia for no one to ask questions about who he was and what he was doing. He closed his eyes and breathed out a sigh of relief as he heard the engines spooling up to full power... until they suddenly slowed back down. The airplane rolled slowly down the runway and then turned off to the taxiway, seemingly heading back to the terminal.

"Ladies and gentlemammals, this is your captain speaking", a voice rang out on the PA system. "Unfortunately we have been called back to the terminal by air traffic control due to some minor security concerns regarding our flight. They did mention it should be sorted out rather quickly, so we should be back in the air shortly. We apologize for the inconvenience."

The mustang and most of the passengers were suddenly on edge. This 'security issue' was giving him a very uneasy feeling in his stomach. Of course, he knew it could be caused by many factors. Maybe some sketchy luggage was loaded, or some paperwork wasn't filed correctly regarding their flight. There were so many things they could have missed that were completely unrelated to him leaving the city.

The aircraft approached their gate once again as it parked in front of the terminal. He could see the ground crews surrounding the aircraft once again as if though they were about to unload something from the luggage compartment. Some mammals began to get up when a flight attendant urged them to sit back down.

"Ladies and gentlemammals, please remain in your seats", the white wolf motioned at them to sit down. "We will not be unloading the aircraft. It's only a short stop."

Suddenly, a group of airport police officers entered the aircraft from the main entrance.

"Everyone, paws up and heads down!", one of the officers, a rather buff otter announced as the group made its way between the seats.

Field silently prayed they were here after someone else, but as the approached and stopped at his row, he realized he may be out of luck.

"Sir, please get up from your seat.", the otter announced as he faced Field, who still had his head facing down.

The mustang complied, unbuckling his seatbelt and slowly standing up.

"Please put your hands behind your back.", the officer continued and Field immediately knew he was doomed.

"Mr. Alan Field, you are hereby under arrest.", the otter proceeded to read Field his rights as a panther approached him and cuffed him. The whole time, Field's mind was desperately trying to find a way out of this. They would most likely unload his luggage and carry on bags and if they found the files he was carrying with him, defending himself would be very difficult.

He was escorted off the plane where he could almost _feel_ the shocked gazes of the other passengers. The other officers carried his carry-on bags as he was led through the building to the police station within the terminal. The mustang was led into the interrogation room where he was asked to wait. He sat there, twirling his hooves as he waited for the ordeal to begin. He'd have to improvise and hope the police wouldn't be thorough in searching his belongings. It didn't take long for another officer to come in, this time it was an older elk, likely in his late 40s who was carrying his backpack and a file in his hooves. He sat down quietly on the other side of the table.

"Mr. Alan Field, my name is Elliot Merriam - I'm the Chief of the airport police. Are you aware of why you're being held?"

The mustang shook his head.

"Ok, well, Mr. Field", the elk continued, having clearly made similar announcements before as he opened the case file in front of him. "The ZPD has issued a warrant for your arrest earlier this evening. According to the file you are a suspect who may be working with an organization responsible for the attempted detonation of a bomb in Sahara Mall today, as well as the murder of 2 ZPD officers from Precinct 4 _and_ the killing or Mayor Theodore."

"They contacted many mammals", Field responded bitterly. "How do you know it's me exactly?"

"Well, first off, regardless of how many mammals have been contacted, the ZPD would still have to bring them all in for questioning.", Merriam responded. "However, that's not as important as the fact that _you_ were the only mammal they contacted for questioning during the investigation. This is why we have reasons to believe you may be the only mammal who could tip them off."

The mustang tried to appear impassive as he continued staring forward into space, deep down inside knowing the situation was getting more and more dire for himself.

"Now, in your bag", Merriam continued as he lifted the mustang's backpack onto the table. "We found a laptop and some hard drives. We will need to examine them to ensure there are no files or illegal software on it that could relate to this organization. Would you like to unlock it and show us the contents right now?"

Field simply continued staring ahead, not answering the Chief.

"Well then", the officer sighed. "I suppose we'll have to take this down to the tech team from Precinct 1 where they could examine it. I can assure you nothing will be deleted or altered. They will only run a scan on it."

"This is all a mistake", the mustang muttered, just loud enough for the elk to hear him as he got up and took the bag with him.

"Well, in that case", Merriam replied in a matter-of-fact tone. "The tech team won't find anything and you'll be good to go. We'll have to keep you here but we can't detain you for more than 24 hours. If we don't find anything, you'll be good to go long before that and we'll get you on the next flight to Prairieston."

The elk paused just before closing the door behind him.

"If they _do_ find something, however, well, then good luck in court Mr. Field. You'll need it."

With those final words, the elk closed the door, leaving the mustang alone.

Within a few minutes, the panther officer who cuffed him on the plane approached him and led him to a holding cell. Field sat down on the bench, pondering his next move. It was then that his heart sank to his stomach as he realized there was very little he could do, and there was a lot that the ZPD will find on that computer which could put him in a _very_ bad spot indeed.

* * *

**So that's a wrap for the latest chapter in the story! What did you guys think? Was it good? Was it not-so-good? Let me know :)**

**As always though, hope this chapter was an enjoyable read and stay tuned for more!**


	16. Trouble

The duo sat in Judy's apartment, expressions blank, neither of them wanting to speak a word, though it wasn't like any of them had the energy to talk.

The moment they returned to the apartment, they realized just how exhausted they were. The Sahara Mall incident was clearly causing an uproar in the city, if the TV in Judy's apartment was any indication. They flipped on the news channel as soon as they returned, wanting to see how it was all covered by the media that evening. It felt as if the city was being torn apart again, with some mammals approving the decision for police to carry weapons, and others not content with this new decision.

Most importantly, however, most mammals were not happy with the way the situation played out in the mall overall.

"How dare they assume they knew what it was like standing there with a bomb just a few feet away from you...", Nick muttered bitterly under his breath as he switched off the TV. It was a futile move, as he knew it would be back on again really soon, with their curiosity getting the better of them.

Silence followed.

Judy's parents called her at some point, asking her if everything was okay and what exactly happened. She didn't have the energy to explain, and simply brushed it off for the time being, leaving them concerned as ever. Realizing they weren't going to get much from her, Judy's parents promised to call her later to talk more. It took an incredible amount of effort on Judy's part to convince them not to come down to Zootopia on the next train from Bunnyburrow.

Neither Nick nor Judy ate, though occasionally one of them would get up for a glass of water. They sat in silence until Judy finally broke.

"I'm sorry for getting you into this. It's all my fault. It was so spontaneous...", her voice was clearly cracking before Nick interrupted her.

"No, listen to me Judy - we're in this together. To be fair, it's much more my fault than yours. You were doing your duty, but it was my actions that brought us here in the first place.", he spoke, trying to reassure her despite himself feeling an incredible sense of guilt - both from the City Hall shooting and the incident in Sahara Mall.

"...it's just if I did nothing...", the rabbit continued, completely ignoring her partner's words. "If I did nothing, they would've all died, _you_ would've died. Do you think I would've been able to carry on with anything without you being there to share it all with me? If I even made it out alive myself?"

Nick simply bowed his head.

"Judy, listen, I know how it must feel..."

"Do you?", Judy shot back, raising her voice slightly before recoiling in shock at her own reaction. "I'm sorry... I didn't mean to do that..."

At that point, however, something snapped within the fox's mind. He may have had the experience of shooting a mammal, but it was a criminal. Judy, however, shot a civilian, regardless of the circumstances it brings even more guilt to the mind. It was especially bad, considering they were officers who were supposed to protect civilians, not kill them.

He simply walked over to Judy, who was sitting on the edge of the bed and wrapped his arms around her as she began to cry.

"No... you right right.", Nick whispered. "I don't know how you feel."

The mood in the room was somber as the sun set outside the window, ushering in a night that was most likely going to be among the longest ones of their lives.

* * *

Alan Field sat in the holding cell the next afternoon, counting down the hours until he would finally be set free.

He spent the night in the small room, and now it was well into the next day. The police could only hold him there for up to 24 hours based on suspicions alone, and so far it seems they've had no luck finding anything that could compromise him.

 _Good_ , he thought to himself. _Hopefully we can get back to work soon enough._

Another hour went by until Chief Merriam entered his cell again. The elk sat down on a bench across from him, clearly thinking about his next words. Field's spirits went up slightly, anticipating a speech about how the ZPD were unable to find anything that could put him away.

"So, Mr. Field", the chief of airport police began. "We just got the results back from the precinct."

He paused momentarily, allowing the suspense to build.

"It seems there's more to you than meets the eye.", the mammal continued. "Your laptop contained an application which allows mammals to mask their cellphone location as well as alter their numbers. I'm sure that, as a developer, you're aware these are illegal here. Additionally, it seems you've been working on some malware to pull funds from City Hall by hacking into their systems. It was only part of the code that we found, so thankfully no damage was done yet, but it seems as if you were well on your way to do so. Pretty foolish to keep such important contents unencrypted and on your personal laptop. Very foolish indeed."

The mustang's head fell in defeat. This was going to be a difficult one to explain to Black, assuming he even manages to make it out to freedom. He had gotten too cocky, allowing himself to put so much important and confidential data onto his laptop, and now he was paying the ultimate price. Overconfidence never paid off in this business.

"So", Merriam spoke as he got back up, "we'll be transporting you to Precinct 1, where you will be held until a trial is set up, which should be within the next few days. Good luck, Mr. Field. You'll certainly need it."

* * *

Black watched the TV from his room in Foxtown. It was a complete mystery how the media found out, but the news was right there on the screen - one of his closest associates was arrested the previous evening and the evidence was really stacking up against him.

"Shit", he muttered to himself. "I told him to be more careful when leaving the city."

Of all mammals, the mustang should have known best about encrypting his files and hiding them away - not leaving them in plain sight on his laptop. Field was a tech genius, surely he could have found a way to conceal the virtual evidence from the police.

There was no word on what exactly was found on his laptop, but the mink deemed it safe to assume that their future money laundering scheme of covertly stealing City Hall's funds to expand their own operations was in shambles as well.

Based on his past experience of working for the ZPD, he knew their next step would be to transport the mammal to one of the precincts, most likely Precinct 1 since they were dealing with the case. The mink picked up his phone and dialed in a number.

"Mike? Hi, it's James. Did you catch the news?"

He paused, letting the mammal on the other end of the line respond.

"Yeah, looks like the case", Black responded. "Get your team together. Oh, and one other thing - I'll need a car too."

* * *

Wolford sat calmly in the prisoner transport van as they approached the airport. Upon receiving news of Field's potential conviction, Chief Bogo ordered the mustang to be placed under protective custody in Precinct 1 while awaiting his trial. Knowing just how important the mammal was to the organization they were taking down, it was decided to transport him in a convoy with the armored van and two police cruisers escorting it.

At this time of the evening the traffic on the roads was dying down from the regular rush hour flow, so the trip to the precinct shouldn't take much time.

There were a total of 4 officers in the van including the wolf - one sitting in the prisoner compartment with him and 2 others sitting in the driver and passenger seats at the front of the vehicle. The drive from the precinct to the airport was an uneventful one, with the occasional chatter happening between him and the fellow officer in the prisoner compartment, an okapi going by Sergeant Samuels, before they all settled back into their thoughts. The operation was a simple one - pick Field up and get him to the precinct safely. After that, their job would be done.

The divider separating the van's front cabin and the prisoner compartment slid open to reveal a clouded leopard, Lieutenant Felis facing them, while a maned wolf, Officer Jackson, kept his eyes on the brightly-lit road as he drove the vehicle.

"Alright fellas, we're approaching our destination.", Felis called out. "Get ready to open the doors and bring him in."

Wolford and Samuels nodded, after which the divider was closed once again. A few moments later, the van stopped, and Wolford could see the 2 police cruisers waiting beside them as well. The 2 officers got up from the benches on either side of the compartment and pushed the rear doors open, letting the cool evening air in and revealing a panther dressed in an airport police uniform with a sharply-dressed mustang in pawcuffs standing beside him. No words were exchanged, as the 3 law-enforcement officers knew what to do. Wolford and Samuels led Field into the prisoner transport, getting him to take a seat before strapping him in with a seat belt and securing his pawcuffs to the seat to prevent him from swinging his arms and injuring one of them. They nodded at the panther, who nodded back and closed the doors, leaving the 2 officers and their prisoner alone in the compartment. No words were spoken as the vehicle lurched and began it's journey to Precinct 1, with the 2 escorting cruisers moving into position in front and behind the van.

The massive airport slowly faded into the distance behind them as they drove deeper into the heart of the city. At this point they were in an industrial area, full of warehouses big and small and the occasional factory here and there. They were only minutes from the downtown core, where their destination lay. The 3 mammals exchanged occasional glances, though none of them wanted to speak.

The screeching of a car's tired could be heard in the distance, likely a street-racer tearing up the roads in this part of town, though likely not for long until they'd be apprehended by a ZPD patrol.

Suddenly, however, a crashing could be heard right behind the van, followed by the grinding of metal against asphalt. Wolford shot up from his seat while Samuels kept an eye on the prisoner. The wolf's eyes widened at the scene through the tinted rear window. The police cruiser behind them was no on its side in the distance, with the other side completely crumpled. Instead, a white van was now driving behind them, with a push-bumper attached to the front, which was likely the reason it was able to flip the police cruiser while sustaining so little damage. The tinted windows of the pursuer's vehicle made it almost impossible to see who was inside and the lack of a license plate was an even greater cause for concern.

Wolford rushed over to the front of the cabin, knocking on the diver, which then opened up, allowing him to peek into the front of the vehicle where the passenger and driver sat. Behind him, he could hear Field say something along the lines of "they're here" - a clear indication this wasn't some random intervention.

"We've lost the rear cruiser. Looks like someone's onto us. It's a white van - though no markings so we have no clue who it may be.", he stammered, his shaky voice betraying the nervousness he felt.

"Got it", Felis responded before turning to the maned wolf driving the vehicle. "Keep going, Jackson, I'll call for support. Try to keep us on the road."

Jackson looked over to his fellow officer and nodded before looking ahead. Wolford was about to look back and check on their prisoner when their pursuers' van suddenly roared into view in front of their vehicle, matching the speed of the remaining ZPD cruiser. One of the white van's tinted windows rolled down, and what looked like an assault rifle peeked out. Before the officers in the cruiser could react, the pursuers opened fire.

Wolford couldn't see what exactly was happening in the vehicle, but judging by the way it suddenly swerved off the road and slammed into a warehouse, it was clear the officers inside had met a deadly fate.

At this point, only the police van remained. Wolford cursed and closed the divider, returning to his seat on the bench. Samuels looked at him expectantly, waiting for a response. Wolford simply grabbed his submachine gun, checking the ammunition in the clip, resting his finger on the safety switch.

"It's just us now", he muttered, still preoccupied with his weapon. "The convoy's out."

"Dammit", the okapi cursed, reaching over and grabbing his shotgun from a nearby compartment.

Field simply sat there, with a stupid grin on his face, as if he had just received his dream birthday present.

Suddenly, they heard Felis faintly yell "RPG!" from the front, before a loud bang reverberated throughout the van. It screeched to a halt, slamming the 2 unsuspecting officers against the front wall of the compartment, while the mustang was help firmly in his spot by his seat belt.

There was a slight smell of smoke in the vehicle as both Wolford and Samuels tried to come back to their senses. The impact had dazed them, and they knew every second wasted could cost them their lives. The rear doors suddenly flew open, voices filling up the small space in the van.

Through the ringing in his ears, Wolford could hear "Careful, don't hit Field! Use your tranq guns!", echoing in his ears.

He shakes his head, trying to clear his vision as he spins around, gripping his weapon tightly, trying to aim at the nearest intruder dressed in all black. He pulls the trigger twice, firing off 2 shots in quick succession. The figure fell on its back and lay still. He stood there, weapon raised, awaiting another wave of pursuers.

Suddenly, he felt a sting on his arm, followed by a growing sense of sloppiness in his body. He looked down to find a tranquilizer dart protruding from his sleeve - a more primitive projectile than the current tranquilizer pellets used by the ZPD. Nonetheless, it still did it's job, albeit a little more slower, likely due to the lower content of serum in it.

Wolford fell to his knees and then to the ground as his vision blurred once more, though he managed to see Samuels fall to the ground as well, likely from the same reason as himself. He felt arms grab him and drag him out of the van, while Field stepped out, casually chatting with one of the perps. The front of the van was charred, with the figures of Felis and Jackson slumped in awkward positions in their seats, traces of blood painting the windows, or rather, what remained of them.

He heard a faint whimper and weakly turned his head in Samuels' direction, only to see the okapi weakly pleading with one of the intruders as the mammal raised a pistol and aimed it at the officer's head. The pleas fell on deaf ears as the black-clad mammal coldly pulled the trigger, and the officer twitched once and lay still.

Wolford closed his eyes as his head grew heavy from the serum, awaiting the same fate.

He saw the outline of a mammal walk up to him, ready to fire the deadly shot, but he was suddenly stopped.

"Let him live, they'll need a witness.", one of the other figures spoke. In the distance, he could see the downed perp he shot earlier get back up, albeit slowly and painfully. By the looks of it, he was wearing a kevlar vest. All the efforts to stop the attackers were useless. He heard something about Nick and Judy being said, but he couldn't quite make out what it was.

Being too weak to do anything else, Wolford allowed himself to drift to sleep.

The last words he heard were: "Well then, Officer... Wolford, judging by your tag here? What's it like to get a taste of your own medicine?"

* * *

He couldn't believe what he was seeing. One moment, Nick was watching the news about Field's arrest the previous evening, which the media caught wind of earlier that morning, and now the convoy carrying him was attacked, and by the looks of it, their suspect was once more on the run. They weren't even sure which officers were riding in the convoy, though it was almost certain they were all from Preinct 1.

In his mind, there was only one thing to do. He turned to Judy, who by now was more or less back to her senses.

"I need to go to the precinct... we need to tell them this was all Black.", he spoke in a panicked tone.

"I'm sure they know that already, Nick. Listen, we need to stay here, we're not in a good state of mind - neither you nor me should be going.", Judy responded weakly.

"Judy, this all started because I killed Clawson in City Hall. Mammals are dying because of _me_. I can't just stand on the sidelines and watch", the fox implored her. "To hell with my medical leave - I don't deserve it! Even if I don't make it out of this mess alive, at least I'll know I did all I can to rid the city of these bastards!"

"Nick, it didn't start with City Hall.", Judy protested at his answer. "Don't you get it? We were one of the targets from the start - I don't know why us exactly, but clearly Black made it personal pretty early on. The ZPD will do all it can to protect the city - you're in no state to help."

Her partner turned to face her, a mix of panic and guilt in his eyes as he breathed heavily. His mind was reeling, ideas were forming in his mind at an incredible rate. He couldn't see this develop any further - _he_ had to help put an end to it. He wasn't himself and he knew it, but how else was he going to help fix all that he's broken already? His own well-being didn't matter anymore, hell, it never did - not after what he put the city and those close to him through.

He felt a presence next to him and turned his head, only to be surprised by Judy, standing there by his side.

"If you're going, so am I.", she stated bluntly, but just a little shakily as well. "I'm not sending you back alone."

Her voice showed a surprising amount of determination, while her arguments were a lot more rational than those of her partner.

That being said, despite Nick's frequent "emotional bunny" jokes, Judy was actually often the more rational one of the duo. Sure, on the surface she did show more emotions than Nick, but she was able to keep them in check better and they were more temporary - coming and going fairly quickly. If something was wrong on her partner's end, however, it would strike him much deeper and the results would last much longer. Case in point - the muzzle incident, which traumatized him to such an extent that he still felt a tinge of pain to this day, clearly not having gotten completely over it. Judy's incident with Gideon, on the other hand, while also traumatic, only strengthened her resolve to work towards her goal after she recovered from the initial shock.

This was exactly what was going on right now.

Nick was still reeling from the earlier events, and now thanks to the fact that he believed it was _his_ fault for putting Judy in the position to shoot a civilian, he was ready to risk everything to go out and do his duty. Judy, on the other hand, while still upset over the previous day's events, was able to snap out of it just in time to help her partner.

He sighed as he looked at the determined bunny standing beside him.

"Fine, get ready, I'll call a taxi."

A few minutes later, they were on their way down to the ground floor, with a taxi waiting for them in front of the entrance to the Grand Pangolin Arms. They sat in the back, asking the driver to take them to the precinct. They still had no idea what they would tell the Chief, or any of the officers for that matter, but Nick was absolutely certain this was the right thing to do.

On the way there, they suddenly received a call from none other than a fellow officer - Wolford.

Nick answered the call, bringing the phone up to his ear.

"Nick, Judy, please listen, it's important.", the wolf spoke with panic in his voice, not even giving Nick a chance to say hello.

"Well hello to you too, buddy", he replied, a slight trace of sarcasm in his voice. "What's up?"

"Stay in your apartment, we're going to send a patrol there. I'm in an ambulance right now. I was on the convoy that was carrying Field which was attacked, and I have a hunch they may be after you next."

"Hold up, hold up, what's going on?", Nick asked, trying to process what was being told to him.

"There's no time. Stay where you are.", the officer urged him. "Everyone in the convoy was killed but for some reason they kept me alive. I heard your names being mentioned. You should -"

Nick didn't get to hear the rest of the response, as in incredibly powerful force slammed head-on into the cab. Suddenly, everything went dark.

The street was empty with the exception of the 2 demolished cars, and no movement came from either vehicle.

Suddenly, a mink stumbled out of one of the cars, making his way over to the taxi. The cab driver was killed immediately on impact it seems, with the airbag barely providing any help. Nick and Judy, on the other hand, seemed to be alive, albeit unconscious.

Moments later, a white van stopped behind him. The doors opened, and Field stepped out, along with a small group of mercenaries which destroyed the police convoy earlier. They tore open the demolished taxi's doors, grabbing Nick and Judy and carrying them into the van.

Black smiled in satisfaction, looking back at the wreckage. Among the remains of the cab, he saw a phone, with an ongoing call. He took it in his paws, listening to the voice on the other end desperately call for a reply.

The mink slammed the phone against the ground, breaking it.

"Oops, too late", he muttered.

He turned around and headed back to the waiting van.

Now, it was time to finish what he started with that fox and bunny.


	17. It Ends Here

Nick woke up with a groan, his vision still blurred and mind foggy from the evening's events. What _did_ happen anyways? Last time he checked, he was in a cab with Judy, going to Precinct 1 for...

For what?

He couldn't quite recall. He lifted his head, just slowly enough to minimize the pain that coursed through his body.

"Ah, I see you're awake!", a voice spoke somewhere in the distance, with an oddly amicable tone. "I was thinking we went a little overboard with our methods of extracting you, but I suppose it got the job done, with minimal casualties I must add."

He shook his head and his vision cleared. Off to the side, he saw Judy, cuffed in a chair, almost as if she was being interrogated. The urgency of the situation suddenly overtook him, as Nick bounded up...

And was quickly pulled back down by a set of cuffs on his own paws. He yelled out in pain as it coursed through his wrists, up his arms and throughout his whole body, all while Judy's head shot up, looking over to the source of the commotion with incredible guilt and pity in her eyes.

Across from him, James Black grinned.

"Tsk tsk, officer, I thought you knew better than to resist pawcuffs. Those things are quite tight after all."

The 2 officers took note of their surroundings. It appeared they were in some construction site for an office building, with half-built concrete and glass walls surrounding them, bare steel beams visible in the ceiling and acting as support columns. The are was surprisingly quiet and dark at this time of night, which suggested they were fairly far from the city center. Apart from Nick and Judy, only Black was standing in the room with them. Where the rest of the mammals in his team went was anyone's guess.

"Ah yes, I see you two are trying to figure out where you are. ", Black noted. "I can assure you, you probably won't know anyhow. This was supposed to be the new office for Field's startup. They were doing fairly well financially you know... until, of course, you arrested him earlier. Now, with his criminal record, all funding for his company was cut by his sponsors and the construction will probably be halted for good."

Judy opened her mouth to protest, but the mink cut her off.

"No, I know what you're gonna say.", he interrupted. "You're going to claim something like 'But we didn't perform the arrest!'. No, you didn't, you were probably cowering away at your apartment. Nonetheless, if it wasn't for you, none of this mess would have happened in the first place."

He motioned at their surroundings with his paws.

"You know, you're a monster", Judy pressed on. "You're a monster for what you did in the mall. The bomb was counterproductive to your cause. Do you really thing it'll help you in any way?"

"Oh, was it?", Black inquired. "Then let me ask you, have you seen the news lately?"

Silence.

"Is the public... generally pleased with the way you guys handled it, not just you two, but the ZPD in general?"

The 2 cops remained stoic.

"I thought so. The bomb was a win-win situation.", the mink began explaining, as he casually paced in front of them. "If the bomb blew up, you two would have died - that's unquestionable. The ZPD would be devastated at the loss of their 2 finest cops, and the public would lose trust for you all, since you couldn't stop the bomb when it was _your_ duty to do so. Now, the only way to stop the bomb in the time we gave you, as you discovered, was to kill the civilian. Yes, it saved lives, but the public will see you two shooting a helpless civilian nonetheless. No one would care that it was the only way to stop this. Who wants to be around a police force which shoots its own citizens? Ha! No one, of course."

He chuckled, looking back at them to ensure they were still paying attention and not passing out from the pain sustained in the earlier car accident.

"So", he continued. "In that case, the trust for the ZPD would also be undermined. The public won't agree with your methods. Protests will start. With City Hall still in turmoil from losing the mayor, rash decisions will be made. The public will be even less happy, so even _more_ protests will happen. In the end, one way or another, mammals will realize we're better off without the government or any institutions. All that will crumble, and a truly free society will emerge. We're not aiming for the public to love _us_ as an organization, no. We've gone far beyond that - we're looking at the bigger picture now. We're the so-called 'shit disturbers', pardon my language. We just make things bad for you, and while the public will most definitely deem us criminals and terrorists, at the very least they'll also come to realize how incompetent and redundant the ZPD and City Hall really are."

Black smiled, before picking up a cup of coffee from a nearby table and taking a long sip.

"So no, Officer Hopps, the bomb helped us regardless of the outcome."

What followed was a brief staring contest of sorts between the officers and their captor. It was a challenge of who would be the first to back down morally. Finally, Nick sighed.

"Just tell us what you want from us.", he scowled.

"What do I want? What could I possible want from _you_?", Black laughed at the question. "You're 2 broken officers. You have nothing to offer me. No, you're not here because I want to pry some information out of you. You're here because..."

"You want to kill us?", Nick asked. "Oh, I guessed it, didn't I? That sounds like quite a bluff though, maybe you're even trying to add a bit of suspense to something more grand in there? Trying to scare us, eh? Or maybe..."

Nick's trademark smirk was slowly returning to his face, but his speech was cut short.

At that moment, Black picked up a nearby rebar, and with incredible speed and force jumped up on Nick's chair and brought one of the ends of the bar down on the fox's open left paw. In a gruesome display, the steel rod passed right through the middle of Nick's paw and was jammed into the arm of the chair as it exited the other side, effectively immobilizing it.

The fox doubled over in pain as much as his restrains would allow him, trying to regain his composure as blood ran from the wound and the pain coursed through his body. Judy screamed in horror nearby as she witnessed the whole scene, unable to do anything.

Black turned to her - part of his own arm splattered with her partner's blood.

"Normally I would have been in the mood to joke around, but today I'm pretty pissed at what you did with my associates. I'd advise you not to follow his example."

He pointed at Nick, who was still moaning in pain, looking up to meet the mink's eyes.

"Thankfully you didn't get my dominant paw.", he tried to joke. "You're gonna pay for what you're doing to us and the city, even if we don't make it out of here alive..."

Black simply raised a brow.

"That's quite an empty threat at the moment, Officer Wilde. You two are the ones tied in here with me. The plan will still go on. I'm sure you both are familiar with Bill Sands' case by now, especially Officer Wilde. How old were you when your father was killed by him, 7 or so? Well, he was just the beginning. He unknowingly laid the foundations for our cause. And now, we made sense of his plan, saw potential in it. We shall finish what he started."

He turned back and walked over to another table.

"You know, I was always curious, just to change the subject...", he spoke, his back facing them as he rummaged through the contents on the table. "What would make you bleed out quicker, a bulled or a knife wound?"

He turned around, this time both his paws held weapons, one paw holding a gun, the other one holding a fairly long knife.

"Now of course, there's the question of size. You two are completely different sizes, different amounts of blood in your body, so obviously wounds would affect you differently. But we're not here for experiments today - I was just thinking aloud. My question is, who wants a bullet and who wants the knife? Just a fair warning, it won't immediately kill you, I'll make sure of it. I just want you two to really feel how hopeless and useless you are to the city as you die a slow and painful death."

"You're a sadistic bastard, did you know that?", Judy muttered under her breath.

"Well, in the past, I would've disagreed with that statement.", Black chuckled, a wide smile forming on his face. "But you know what? At this point, I'd have to agree with you on that one. I probably am a sadist, especially when dealing with you two."

A long silence followed.

"Really?", he asked, looking between the 2 silent officers. "No volunteers? Well, I suppose I'll have to take the pick myself. Let's begin!"

He raised the gun first and pulled the trigger. The shot hit its mark, Judy's upper arm, causing her to yelp in pain but largely unable to move or cover the wound due to the restraints. He then approached Nick with the knife, before climbing on the chair to reach Nick's left shoulder, stabbing the knife into the general area several times.

He hopped down to the ground, examining his gruesome and terrifying handiwork as his victims struggled to bear the pain as blood ran from their wounds.

"So disappointing, I thought you two would have a little more fight in you.", Black shook his head in mock shame. "So much for the high standards the ZPD claims to have. Has Bogo been slacking in his expectations?"

He was about to turn back to the table to bring the weapons back, when he heard a chuckle behind him. He turned around in surprise, only to see Nick laughing. Even Judy was confused. Was the fox going insane from the pain?

"Mind sharing what's so funny?", the mink chuckled himself.

Nick nodded, before calming down a little, though it didn't stop the laughter entirely.

"It's just...", he spoke through bouts of laughter. "For one of the ZPD's finest detectives, you really are fairly naive and unperceptive, I must say."

"And why would that be?", Black responded in a challenging tone.

"I think you broke my phone, or at least, that's what I heard when I was about out pass out in the taxi...", Nick began. "But what about Judy's phone? Ever wonder what you did to that one?"

"Why does it matter?", the criminal inquired, pulling out Judy's phone from his own pocket and waving it for both officers to see. "We confiscated it anyhow - I have it right here. You have no access to it as it stands. You can make no calls."

"But you see, you still have it on you. And therein, lies your mistake.", he quipped as SWAT teams burst into the building.

* * *

_Several hours earlier_

Chief Bogo sat nervously at his desk, trying to come up with a plan of action.

Wolford called from the hospital earlier, telling him he lost contact with Judy and Nick during a call, and judging by the noise of the commotion he heard in the background, the wolf was almost certain Black was responsible for their kidnapping.

Now, 2 officers were missing - officers who were not even fit for duty at that. If they were interrogated or tortured by Black, there would be no telling what information they can reveal. Time was not on their side.

Suddenly, Bogo's phone rang.

He picked up.

"Chief Bogo? This is Rob from tech.", the voice spoke.

"Hi! Is there an urgent problem? I'm busy right now.", the buffalo responded gruffly.

"More like a solution.", Rob answered. "We may be able to help find Nick and Judy."

"Hold that thought, I'll be there in just a moment.", Bogo ended the call, getting up and quickly walking out of his officer and into the tech lab.

The badger and llama technicians, the very ones who assisted Nick and Judy earlier were waiting for him.

"So here's the thing, Chief", the badger began. "Officer Wilde came in shortly before heading out to the whole fiasco at the mall, and asked us to do one more thing for him. By the looks of it, he was a little paranoid that Black would attempt to go after them and capture them or something, and it seemed the City Hall stuff was weighing down fairly heavily on him..."

"That's besides the point...", Bogo interrupted, his tone impatient. "I understand you have a lot to say, but we don't have much time."

"Of course!", the tech continued. "Anyhow, earlier we attempted to install software on their phones to help trace the criminal's calls. It didn't help much unfortunately in discovering his location, but Wilde then asked us to install a tracker into his and Hopps' phones, just in case they were actually captured. He had a hunch it may happen, putting it in his words. I suppose his intuition didn't fail him."

Bogo's mood instantly brightened at the news of a potential lead.

"Well, Wilde is a fairly clever one after all.", he chuckled. "Can you find their location right now? Assuming Black has any of their phones on him."

"Even better.", the llama piped up. "We can check where they've been over the past few hours through the system. That way, even if their phones are destroyed or anything, we can still figure something out at least."

It was fairly soon that they found a location for Judy's phone - a fairly desolate part of the city just on the border of the Rainforest District and the Meadowlands. It seemed that Black had finally made a critical error and for once they seemed to have an upper hand.

They knew what to do. In under half an hour, several SWAT teams were ready and heading to the intended location to save their fellow officers.

Black was in for quite a surprise.

* * *

**Well, that's a wrap for this chapter! I have to say, it was quite a tough one to write for several reasons, but hopefully it all paid off in the end. Was it a good chapter? Could there be room for improvement on this one? Let me know!**

**Our story is drawing to a close at this point, and I'm expecting (probably) 1, or at most 2 chapters are left. We'll see how the next chapter goes, but for the time being, assume we have one last chapter until stated otherwise.**

**Hope you guys are enjoying the story so far, and don't forget to send any feedback you may have! :)**

**Cheers!**


	18. Is it Over?

**Hi everyone! I'm sorry for the delay. School got really busy and I was bogged down with assignments, not to mention midterm season's coming up.**

**I don't really have much to add for this chapter - it's on the shorter side, and we'll probably have one more chapter to go after this, so the story's winding down.**

**Thanks for all the support guys, hope you enjoy this one!**

* * *

Sirens flashed and officers streamed in and out of the construction site as Black and a pair of guards from his organization were led into police cruisers to be driven out to the precinct.

Apart from the heavy police presence, a small group of paramedics was also toiling on site, tending to Judy's and Nick's injuries. Thankfully, despite initial fears, only flesh wounds were inflicted, and minimal damage was done to the bones and nerves in the area. It was painful, sure, but they would make a full recovery, granted they still needed some time off service. Even Nick's shoulder wasn't as badly injured as they feared after multiple stab wounds.

His palm, however, being pierced with the metal rod, required a bit of therapy and very likely some intense surgery to fully repair the muscle. Upon initial inspection, the paramedics weren't pleased with the current motor skills of his paw, which in fact were almost non-existent at the time and recommended the treatment program.

"Do you know how risky that was? That move you pulled with Black?", Judy hissed at him as the paramedics completed their checks and began preparing the ambulance to take them to the hospital.

"Carrots, you offend me", Nick responded with mock-insult. "We foxes are renowned for our night vision. I saw the SWAT teams waiting outside waaaaay before they burst in, so I figured I'd play around for a bit. I couldn't miss the opportunity - it was such a classic "villain tortures heroes" movie moment. I'm just surprised he even fell for it, if you ask me."

Not much else was said between the two partners. They've been through a lot over the past few hours, and they were just thankful they got out in one piece, not to mention finally catch the villain they've been hunting for so long.

The ambulance doors closed as they were taken away to the hospital.

* * *

The next morning, Black sat in the interrogation room, grey, concrete walls providing a setting almost as emotionless as his face. He had his poker face on by the looks of it, unwavering, not wanting to reveal any of his true emotions or feelings. Was it part of his plan to get caught, or did he really think this was the end? One could only imagine what was going on in his mind.

The very same thoughts swirled through Chief Bogo's head as he watched behind the glass, waiting for the interrogation to begin. It's been 8 years since he's seen the mink in person, though these were certainly not the circumstances in which he was hoping to see him again, though it was still better than looking at a casket.

 _At least Hopps and Wilde are okay_ , he thought to himself, relieved that his best officers would make a full recovery.

The interrogator finally entered, a zebra in a grey suit, holding a beige folder in his hooves, filled with various papers regarding the case. He sat down across from Black, keeping a fairly calm demeanor as he set the folder on the table and opened it, the silence slowly becoming suspenseful. The mink glanced at the folder, and looked back up, seemingly losing interest in its contents.

"So, Mr. Black", the interrogator began. "I will remind you that you have the right to remain silent, however, I do highly recommend you at least cooperate with the investigation."

Black was stoic as he took the words in.

"However", the zebra continued. "Keep in mind we do have incriminating evidence of you being involved in this plot. You aren't a simple suspect anymore, so you can't be let off the hook that easily."

"How may I refer to you?", Black suddenly asked.

"Mr. Meyers would be fine", the interrogator responded.

"Excellent", Black affirmed. "So, Mr. Meyers, where do you see this city going within the next few days or so?"

"Mr Black, I don't believe this question is really relevant at this time", Meyers chuckled.

Behind the glass screen, Bogo huffed in frustration. This was so typical of many criminals, stretching the interrogation on and making life difficult for everyone, while enjoying the moment themselves.

He sighed once more, hoping Meyers would be able to handle the situation.

"Look, Mr. Meyers, I'll be clear with you", Black spoke up with a grin. "You caught me, congrats, here's a pat on the back for you all. You didn't stop the most important thing though. You didn't stop the _plan._ Our plan's still moving forward and the city is well on its way to the freedom it deserves - freedom from all of you."

He motioned around the room, casting a glance at the one-way mirror.

"I can imagine you're listening too, Bogo", he chuckled. "I've been away from the ZPD for a while, but trust me, I haven't forgotten how all of this works. So how about I make this easy for you guys and tell you to go to hell. You won't get anything from me. Quite frankly I'm sure that's what you'll be doing later on anyhow."

A pause ensued for the next few minutes, before the interrogator finally broke it.

"Are you done?", he asked patiently.

"Let me just add that regardless of what you do, the rest of the organization is still out there, and they know exactly what to do. They'll come at you with full force, freeing me and destroying your lives. Just you see."

"No they won't", a second voice suddenly spoke up from the other side of the room, as the door opened and another mammal walked in.

"Ah, the good cop, bad cop routine.", Black retorted, as he turned to face the newcomer. "I swear, this is so very generic of you..."

His facial expression froze mid-speech with a look of utter shock.

"Surprised?", a familiar-looking buff mustang inquired, though this time he was dressed in a black suit, with a white shirt and a dark tie.

Black sat there dumbfounded, unable to utter a single word.

"Let me answer your question for you", the mustang continued, clearly enjoying this interaction. "I'm not Field, I never was. Name's Ryan Hooverton, ZBI"

"I should have known", the mink muttered under his breath, finally regaining his composure.

"Oh, don't blame yourself.", Hooverton grinned victoriously. "Even the ZPD didn't know until earlier today. It was a strictly undercover operation. You didn't know about us, but we sure as hell knew about you for a while."

The mustang pulled up a chair and sat down at the table.

"I'll take it from here, Meyers. Thank you", he nodded at the zebra sitting next to him.

"Thank you sir.", Meyers responded, getting up and making his way towards the door.

Hooverton waited until the interrogator left to speak.

"For the record, your organization's officially compromised. I was able to lead them right into the paws of law enforcement officers thanks to their gained trust. Each and every single one of them has been apprehended. So here's how this is going to play out. The court preceding will be held 3 days from now. I know it's fairly soon, but we have enough evidence to virtually guarantee you'll be locked away for a while. I'd say that about sums it up for now, so I can't really say this interrogation's going to be all that useful. Maybe you have a question or two though?"

"Fuck you, _Field_ ", Black seethed.

"Yeah, looks like we really messed up your plans, didn't we. Don't worry, with the ZBI aware of your plot, you weren't able to cause as much damage to City Hall as you thought you did."

The mink stared at him, rage in his eyes as an officer walked in and led him away to the holding cell. Hooverton breathed out a sigh of relief. So many months of waiting, convincing himself to go against his very morals to _become_ Alan Field and finally catch the bastard. He couldn't really say he was truly satisfied.

Nonetheless, it was his job. He looked over to the glass panel, where he knew Bogo stood. He gave him a simple nod - indicating the ZPD's job was finally done.

* * *

The bland, white walls of the hospital room weren't helping Judy's mood as she sat by Nick's bed. Of the pair, her injuries were limited to an upper arm bullet wound and some sprained muscles from the earlier car accident. Nick, however, suffered multiple stab wounds to the shoulder and a puncture wound from the metal rod that went through his paw. The wounds weren't too severe either, but nonetheless, they were much more painful if the thick bandages were any indication.

They sat in silence, taking in the rather calm afternoon, but not not quite sure if they were truly enjoying it. Finally, Nick broke the silence.

"I'm sorry Judy", he muttered, his speech slightly slurred from the intense painkillers he was prescribed.

"What?", the rabbit asked incredulously.

"I said I'm sorry", Nick repeated, the same guilty tone in his voice like before.

"What are you sorry about?", Judy inquired, confused by his sudden apology.

"I'm sorry for putting you through this. I made a rash decision and we both had to pay for it. It would've been fine if I was the only one injured, but you...", he paused mid-sentence, unable to find any other words.

"Nick, listen to me", Judy began, looking intently into his eyes. "First off, you being injured is terrible, regardless if it was just you or the two of us. Secondly, you're not at fault here. Your reaction was understandable. You wanted to help. This was all my fault actually. I should have done a better job at convincing you to stay back. I gave up too easily and now we're here. I should be the one who's sorry."

Nick glanced in her direction, an intent and serious look on his face before it softened, even slowly turning into a grin.

"Okay, how about we both admit we screwed up.", he reasoned. "We both could have done better. It's 1-1 now."

"Deal", Judy quickly responded, relieved that her partner wasn't down in the dumps anymore.

Suddenly, Judy's phone rang, to which she responded by unlocking the phone with her good paw. It was Bogo.

"Hello?", she picked up, listening to what the Chief had to say, while Nick waited a few suspenseful on the bed, trying to pick up on the conversation.

"Oh, that's great!", Judy suddenly piped up, her face glowing with delight. "Oh, don't thank us, Chief. It was the rest of the officers who did the dirty work."

A few seconds later, she put the phone down.

"Well", she began. "It looks like they caught everyone."

" _What?!"_ , Nick exclaimed in surprise at the twist in events. "It was just Black in the room with us though, plus a few of his goons outside. I didn't think he'd give in so easily and reveal _everyone_..."

"It wasn't him", Judy shook her head. "We got help from inside his organization, shall we say. Bogo couldn't say who exactly it was over the phone, but I'm sure he'll fill us in when he sees us."

"Wow", the fox chuckled. "Either way, that was a good turn of events."

The pair settled into a comfortable silence, the mood in the room much different than it was minutes ago.

"You know", Nick suddenly spoke up, jolting Judy out of her own thoughts. "I don't want to sound like a terrible mammal or anything, but the news sort of helped me get over all I did real quick. Just the fact it's all over and all we did wasn't for nothing... it's just... I guess it's the closure I wanted this whole time. Well, for the most part at least."

"I totally understand", Judy replied softly, resting her paw over Nick's. "We got through all this, and we helped shut them down in the end. Whatever happened, happened. It's not an easy job in that sense. We saw some terrible things, and we probably will in the future as well. We just need to focus on making the world a better place in the end."

Nick nodded, looking out the window of his room at the afternoon city scenes outside, the streets bustling with activity as mammals went about their daily lives, oblivious of the catastrophe that nearly struck.

Suddenly things didn't seem as bad as they did before...


End file.
